Fairy Tail Workshop
by BadAtUsernames
Summary: Levy's father left her a library of books when he died. That library was where she spent all her time and that's dangerous in the world she lives in. When she is found with her books, the tyrannical Queen sentences her to something awful- life in Fairy Tail Workshop. -rated M for language-
1. Worse Glares

Worse Glares_  
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_Clump. Clump-clank. Clump. Clump-clank._ There was a sharp intake of breath as Levy prayed not to be found out. If she was found again, it would be the third time this week. Her mother would surely beat her. But Levy was a smart girl and she knew the steps were too heavy to be her mother's. She thanked whatever force drew her to wear her dark clothes today, yet cursed them all the same. She was wearing men's trousers with a corset and jacket only. She was just below her father's study- next door to her own room. She didn't need to be wearing much to walk down the hall. To be precise, down the hall a bit and into a dark cellar room. It was six by four feet which belonged to her father- hidden four feet under his rug he passed it to Levy when he died. She read all the books in it at least three times each.

_Clump. Clump-clank._ She hoped the man- it had to be a man from the heavy steps- would be stupid enough to go another room and not search under the rug. _Swish, plop._ No such luck. She put her book back on the stack and turned off her steamlamp. Levy took off her jacket and folded herself into a small alcove. She flung her black jacket on top of her to hide herself into the darkness. She silently thanked her mother for the one good thing she gave Levy- her small stature. Levy's father gave Levy her blue hair, her brown eyes and her books, but she looked just like her mother. Levy could easily fold herself and fit into the smaller hole and hide.

Levy just got situated on the dirt of the seller when the trapdoor to her secret spot was opened. She didn't dare look, but Levy knew from the jangle of keys and the crash of a large body against the dirt that this was a large man she was dealing with. Definitely not her mother.

"Well, well, well," the man snarled and Levy's thoughts came crashing down on her at once. What if she was caught? Would she go with this man willingly? Would she put up a fight? What would her punishment for this be? What if she wasn't caught? All her precious books would be taken away and she didn't know how to get any new ones or she would have done that years ago. A world without books would almost be more of a punishment than death or imprisonment.

The man- _undoubtedly a guard_, Levy thought- started picking Levy's books up and dropping them on the floor of the study. There were four thuds, then more jangling of the keys.

Then, suddenly, Levy's jacket was ripped off her body. In a split second decision, she decided to be brave, for once. She decided to act like a heroine from her books and be strong- but no before he caught a glimpse of the fear in her eyes.

The man was definitely a guard, for he smiled at her fear. Or at the fact that he would probably get paid a bit extra for getting a criminal, not just paraphernalia. This man wore black boots with metal soles, navy blue trousers, a tan shirt and a navy blue vest with a black overcoat. The feathers coming off his right shoulder marked him as one of the Queen's guards. At the moment, Levy could not see all this, nor could she see many of the other markers that told exactly what type of guard this man was. All Levy could see was the face of the guard stooped before her. She stared back into those blood red eyes of his and only wavered to look at his evilly happy grin widen as he snagged the dirt streaked girl in almost no proper clothes.

As he pulled her out of her nook, she felt his brass knuckles pressed into her fair skin. She was sure it would bruise, but it was the least of her problems.

"Ha!" he spat, "Stupid girl. You'll get a life sentence for this! Don't you know reading unregistered books is illegal?" The guard still held Levy and, instead of using his whip most guards carry, the man got out shackles and put them around Levy's wrists behind her back.

Knowing his comment was rhetorical, Levy kept her jaw clamped shut. In one arm, the guard grabbed his bag with the books in them and used his other hand to grab a handful of Levy's hair and yanked her out of the study.

"Ya idiot- you'll die for this, and I'll get paid enough for a year with the lot you've got here. You really think you'd be able to get away with a Bible and three classic As? Plus you're practically naked _and _in half men's clothes to boot!" The guard was positively gleeful.

Levy lived in the kingdom of Fiore, a place ruled by a queen who outlawed books years before Levy was born. All books were taken from every home, but there were some who resisted the ban, like Levy's father. And Levy was oh so lucky to live in Magnolia- the city which housed the Queen's palace. The Queen cracked down on everything- chivalry was practically law for the proper, the Queen was nearly God (all religion was banned), and ladies' code _was _a law for women. If anyone were to be caught cross dressing they would be thrown in jail.

Anyway, the book ban was met with rebellion, and to quell that, many guards were hired and laws were made and enforced much better. Books were sorted into categories based on the Greek alphabet. The closer to the beginning of the alphabet, the worse the punishment for reading or even possessing them. Alphas, or classic As, were books like _Beowulf_ or _Romeo and Juliet_. These were what the regime called "classics"; hence the term classic As. Betas, or cat. Bs were books like _Anne of Green Gables_ or _To Kill A Mockingbird_- books that were nearly classics. Gammas were powerful books like _1984_ or _Fahrenheit 451_. Deltas were history texts and biographies. Epsilons were "modern" novels with a message like _The Hunger Games _or_ Harry Potter_. Thetas were science fiction or adventure novels. Iotas were romance novels. Kappas were rags to riches stories. Lambdas were unregistered educational textbooks. Sigmas were any other kind of novel or novella. And Omegas were books that another citizen of Fiore wrote. For all these different kinds of books you can get put away for between 6 months and 20 years- not to mention the Half Punishment Rule. This rule meant that if you got a six month punishment for _having_ an Omega, you'd get three extra months for just _reading_ it.

Then there were Books Zed. A Book Zed would be a religious book, like the Bible, the Torah, the Quran. For possession of a Book Zed you would most likely be put to work at a Workshop or thrown in jail for life.

Back to our 'heroine', though. The guard pulled her through her house, which seemed to be deserted, and out to the steam engine carriage waiting for them. Her neighbors stopped and watched under umbrellas as the guard threw his bag into the carriage and Levy was tossed in beside it. She could feel the stares through the now closing door. There were bars on the window in the door and the reality of all this was actually sinking in. Waves of emotion crashed over her. First sorrow, for she knew she was going to jail for the rest of her life- if she wasn't sentenced to death. Then anger at her mother who had no longer been in her home. She fled and left Levy there to get carted away. Mrs. McGarden was abusive and always harsh towards her only daughter. Levy should have seen this coming, but she was easy to forgive and did so to her mother all the time. So, this was quite the shock.

She could hear the rain on the roof and got a chill from the few seconds the downpour had drenched her. Then she thought of the man still in the rain. He was driving under a small roof. She became angry at him as well. _Why did he have to find such pleasure in this_? she thought, _Sure, he'll get a bonus, but what kind of person would be this happy?_ She then remembered the differences between this man and many other Queen's Guards she'd seen. Maybe that had something to do with it.

Most guards carried the standard whip with them, and it could double as a constraint to tie back one's hands. However, this man had brass knuckles over his standard issue fingerless gloves as a weapon and used shackles as a constraint. All of these seemed to be made of some silvery metal- iron maybe? Also, the guard had long unkempt black hair. Most guards had their hair cut to a certain length because of the gender swapping laws. He also didn't carry a timepiece with him, nor did he have green goggles around his neck. He had red goggles instead and piercings on his face.

All this meant he wasn't a regular guard. _He's either specialized or just does random jobs_, Levy thought, _No normal guard gets that much free will_. The carriage came to a halt and the guard came to the door to unlock it. Levy gave him her angriest glare, he only chuckled.

"I've gotten worse glares from worse people. You don't scare me, Shrimp," Levy winced at the name. Her father used to call her by that nickname and she didn't like it when the guard called her that. He had no right to say use such a cherished name for her. The guard grabbed her again, this time by the arm. He hauled her and the books into Magnolia City Hall. They got to the back hall, where the holding cells were. The guard unlocked the door, then threw Levy inside. She fell to the concrete floor.

"Have fun, Shrimp," he said before walking away. _Now's the time to be brave or never_, Levy thought quickly.

"Don't call me that," Levy said from the floor. She was a bit quiet- still unsure of herself.

"What was that?" Levy stiffened at his words, then pulled herself up a bit more. He looked angry and Levy pulled back a bit as she saw him. Fear may or may not have flashed before her eyes, but she definitely felt it. And it only made her want to speak up more.

She repeated herself: "I said, don't call me that." Levy said it louder, almost with conviction. He looked at his feet for a moment. When he looked back at her, his hair covered his eyes so she couldn't see them. A grin unfurled on his lips and he bent down on his haunches to be at her level.

Before she even saw it, his left hand shot out and smacked her. Pain shot up her jaw and blossomed in her cheek. She tried not to scream, but it came out as a strangled yell. Before she could put a hand to it, his fingers gripped her chin and yanked her head back to face him. His red eyes were practically glowing in the dim cell.

"Listen up, _Shrimp,_" she winced his emphasis on the word, "I'm the one who brought you in and I'll be paid in an hour or two, so I _own_ you. I'll call you whatever I damn well please." The guard pushed her head back as if he was disgusted to have it touching his hand. He left the cell, slammed the door and left her there.

Levy looked around her and took in the holding cells. She was in the back of City Hall- a building that looked so beautiful from the outside. There were eight cells, only one of which was occupied. The cells had concrete floors, cinderblock walls, and rusting bars serving as a fourth wall. The place was lit by steamlamps. They burn with as much light as five candles. The lamps were put every three feet and there were no windows. In Levy's cell there was only a blanket and a bucket. Levy never had the shackles taken off her, but she knew she needed to get the blanket over herself, or she might freeze. The cell was damp and cold and Levy was covered in rain. Her hair was so wet and the chamber so dark that her hair was more of a navy blue than it's usual sky blue. _Gotta free my arms. I'm not using my teeth to drag that on me_, she thought. The blanket was to her left against the wall. So she tried the only thing she could think of and again her mother's tiny figure helped her a lot. Levy scooted on her butt to put her back against the cool damp wall. She used the wall to help her stand up. Then, she attempted to pull her arms down around her ankles to get her arms in front of her. She struggled when she got to her backside, but finally figured it out. If the shackle chain was any smaller or Levy any larger, there would have been no way that worked without dislocating her shoulder. She pulled her arms down to her heals and stepped over the chain. She stood up straight and smiled at her achievement, despite the ache in her wrists and shoulders. Levy walked over to the blanket, picked it up, and walked to the left corner of the cell. she sat down and huddled into the blanket. Levy missed her own house and the heat it brought with it. She missed her bed and blankets at home. She would even settle for her own coat. She loved that black coat. It was her father's black trench coat from years ago.

For two hours, Levy huddled in that corner. She had just began flirting with the idea to use the bucket when she heard a door slam shut. She looked up and the guard who brought her in, who "owned" her, was with another guard one who had the appropriate dress on.

"Oi! You, come 'ere," 'her' guard demanded. She stood up and let the blanket fall to the floor. Levy walked over to the two men on the opposite side of the bars. The new guard reached through the bars and grabbed Levy's face, much like the other guard did before. He yanked her head to one side, looking at the bruise her guard left on the left side of her face.

"I'm surprised at you, Gajeel. This little damage on such an easy target. It's not like you," the guard observed Levy further.

"Don't lie. It's just like me. She's trying not to show fear. She's trying not to scream or cry and that's no fun until you have the time to break 'em. Call me when it's time for the torture and I'll gladly do worse," her guard - Gajeel said.

"Understood," the second guard replied as he let go of Levy's face, "but you'll only be getting a hundred jewel for her capture."

"What?" Gajeel barked. He was angry and it was obvious he was originally promised more.

"Oh, come on. Look at her! She's tiny and she wasn't even posted as wanted. She obviously wasn't that difficult to bring in and that slap you gave her was obviously for backtalk."

"Listen. I was told-" Gajeel poked the other guard in the chest.

The other guard smacked his hand away, "No, you listen. If you want a pay raise, bring the bitch to the Queen tomorrow yourself and take the matter up with her!" The guard back at Gajeel, then left.

"Go to sleep _Shrimp_," Levy flinched at the name, "We're seeing the Queen tomorrow." At that, Gajeel left.

The Queen saw every criminal of Magnolia personally. She acted as judge for every trial and almost any person who was tried was found guilty and sentenced. _Almost_ everyone. Levy remembered one man a few years ago. He was found not guilty by the Queen. Levy hoped she was as lucky, but she knew it would never happen. Its strictly forbidden to read and she was found by one of the Queen's Guard. Tomorrow would not be a pleasant day. And it looked like she would be spending the night here, maybe even longer. As Levy sat back down on the floor, recovering in the blanket, she tried to sleep. However, true to her nature, she found the silver lining of that day. Gajeel did not use her father's nickname for her in front of the other guard. She could avoid being called "Shrimp" all day long by every guard- at least for now.

**_Tell me how you feel and review! I can't make it better until I know how..._**


	2. Queen of Spades

Queen of Spades

"Oi! Wake up!" Gajeel yelled at Levy. She woke up slowly. Her whole body ached from sleeping on a concrete floor, and leaning on two cinderblock walls. Gajeel hoisted her onto her feet by her arm. He practically dragged her out of her cell and all the way through City Hall. The whole way out, he was muttering something like, "Like hell I'll get a hundred jewel for this broad." They got into a carriage and both sat in the back. Levy knew that if she ever had a chance to strike the man before her, it would be now. But as previously stated, Levy was not stupid. He was already in a bad mood and it would only provoke him to strike her again if she tried anything.

Levy realized the back window of the carriage was like a mirror. It was early morning and still a bit dark outside, so she could survey the damage Gajeel caused on her body. The bruise on her face was worse than she thought, but it hurt all the same. She had dried blood on her left shoulder. Her blanket must have slipped off her arm at some point while she was sleeping. She guessed her fragile skin rubbed against the coarse wall and scratched her shoulder all night long. On her right arm there was a ring of black and blue from where Gajeel grabbed her too tightly. Her hair was a mess of tangles and knots. She desperately needed a brush. It also fell into her face without a headband to pull it back. With a final look in the glass, she was able to tell the dirt on her face was only washed off in the rain, only to dry back onto her face. She tenderly touched her face and felt it had become a bit swollen. All in all, she looked like some kind of wild animal- restrained and dirty and being carted off for punishment. She felt like it too and she hated it.

Levy and Gajeel avoided eye contact the entire ride to the palace. However, it only took about ten minutes. When the door opened, Gajeel simply walked out. Levy wondered why he didn't yank her out behind him. But when she looked out the door, she saw why. There were three guards waiting to greet them. Levy got out of the carriage and one of the Queen's Guard led the group, while the two others followed behind Levy and Gajeel. The group walked into the palace, down a small corridor, and into a large courtroom.

This courtroom was round, with circular dais in the center for the accused to stand. There was a gate to one side that came stomach high on Levy. Standing there, she faced a large desk on a raised platform. The Queen sat in a chair on the platform with two guards at either side. To the right of the Queen was a podium- a witness stand- where Gajeel stood.

"What is this case?" it was amazing how loud and forceful the Queen was without a microphone.

Gajeel spoke next, "Levy McGarden is charged with possession of illegal texts, inappropriate dress and unlawful behaviours. All illegal texts include: one Book Zed, three Alphas, one Beta, one Gamma, one Delta, five Epsilons, five Iotas, one Lambda, one Sigma and one Omega," the Queen twitched when he said this, "Inappropriate dress includes: cross dressing and insufficient female coverage. Unlawful behaviours include: resisting arrest and harassing one of the Queen's Guard."

Levy was amazed at how far they could stretch their accusations of her wrongdoings. _I am going to die. I'll be executed for all this and only half of it is ture_, Levy thought. She wanted to cry, but no tears came. It was not her choice- she knew she should be crying, any normal person would- but she was too deep in shock.

"And you witnessed all this?" the Queen asked Gajeel.

"I did," he replied, "I brought in the books as evidence. I trust you read their titles?"

"I did," the Queen replied, "Did you?"

Gajeel was thrown off, "Uhhh- no."

"Good. Her Majesty The Queen, Grand Lady of Fiore of Earthland and Extalia and Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Matriarchy, Creator of the Faith finds the accused, Levy McGarden, guilty. She is to be executed. Do you have any objections, crossdresser?" she used her words as poison. She used her full title to highlight her heightened status and demean Levy as much as possible. She even used the term "crossdresser" to make Levy feel even worse, but she called a spade a spade.

"No, your majesty," was her simple response. She figured it was the standard one and the verdict would not change. But that is exactly what happened.

"No? You agree to all charges? You agree you should die for them? You do not beg for your life at my feet like so many before you have done?" for the first time in her long reign, the Queen was surprised by a female criminal.

"I have come to terms with it, or, at least, I will," Levy gave a little backtalk, "It is a coward's death for a coward who must hide in the shadows to educate herself- something this coward find pleasure in. Because that is all I am to you. A coward. But to me? I feel like a hero- because I have felt joy in reading the lives of others who _were_ heroes and I have lived their life. I have lived the life of so many. I have lived the life of strength and compassion. But I have lived the life of nobles, like yourself, and streetrats which you do not pay any attention to. I have lived happiest in the life of a hero and that is with which I yearn to identify with. And I am happy to die if that means I must live in a world without those heroes." Alright, so maybe she went a little overboard with her response, but it was how she felt and what was the Queen going to do? Levy was already going to die. She had nothing to lose. She might as well say what is right and what somebody finally needed to tell that hateful woman.

"You would rather die? Then your sentence has changed, because I cannot give a criminal what they want," the Queen grinned methodically, "You will be slowly worked and tortured to death. All without your precious books. The rest of your life will revolve around Fairy Tail Workshop. You will work there until you die. And the rest of your punishment will be carried out by Gajeel Redfox. There will be no chance of you becoming a hero. A coward is what you are and a coward is what you will always be. You are simply living a delusion."

Levy stood wide eyed and her jaw was on the floor. Yes, the Queen said some awful things, but _I get to live?_ Levy thought. She grew conflicted, _But in Fairy Tail? It's horrible in there - the food must be awful and the people are intimidating and this experience will be unforgettable_. _But, I'll be alive and maybe it won't be so bad._

"Anything else Gajeel?" the Queen was wrapping things up.

"Yeah. I was told I'd only be gettin' a hunerd jewel for the crossdresser, that isn't enough," Gajeel said. He was playing with fire, by the way he was talking to the Queen.

"Yes, well- Totomaru was wrong to tell you that. You'll be getting a thousand jewel for her. Also, make sure that Omega is destroyed. You are dismissed," Gajeel looked happy as the Queen told him this. She smacked down her gavel and the three guards from before came out of the shadows. One of them shoved Levy off the dais and she saw Gajeel stop for a second. He glanced at Levy questioningly, then when they made eye contact, he looked away. Quickly, he shook his head. The guards brought Levy and Gajeel back to the carriage the same way they had come in. On the way, Gajeel muttered in realization, "Fuck- I better be paid extra for this punishment deal."

By the time they got back to the holding cells, it was about lunchtime. Levy realized she hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours. She was beyond hungry. When Gajeel locked the door behind Levy, she went straight to the meal set in her cell. She started to scarf down the food and began to feel like an animal again, so she slowed down.

"Hey Shrimp," Levy didn't flinch at the name that time. She still didn't like the name, but she had grown slightly accustomed to it.

"Tomorrow starts your punishment. You'll be at Fairy Tail by the end of the day." With that, Gajeel was gone and Levy spent the rest of the day alone.

At noon the next day Levy was given a meal, then toted down to another carriage to take her to Fairy Tail. Little did she know, her torture sessions would be held _at_ Fairy Tail and that session was exactly where she was headed.

Fairy Tail Workshop was the place where criminals were put to work as punishment for their crimes. It was a steam factory and created all the steam the town needed for power. Half of the population of Magnolia spelled it "Fairy Tale" because most people working there were put in jail for reading. And the other half, that were right, didn't know why. Nobody knew for sure which homophone it really was. And honestly, nobody cared. Why would anyone really learn the precise name of a jail or penitentiary? It just didn't happen because who would care about a bunch of convicts?

Thirty minutes later, Levy was pulled out of the carriage on the outskirts of town and was walked up to the back door of Fairy Tail. On the other side of the door, she was met with a horribly familiar face and an unfamiliar odor. Levy could see his full face in all its pierced glory in the flickering incandescent light. He had his eyebrows pierced,- three on each- chin pierced, and nose pierced.

Looking around the room, Levy saw a chair with straps at the hands and feet. There was also a fireplace in the corner and a table occupied by various implements of pain that Levy didn't want anywhere near her. She was unshackled by Gajeel and the other guards walked back out the door. Out of utter shock, she didn't try to run and did what she was told.

"Put these on," Gajeel gave her new clothes. She walked over to where a curtain hung around a tub and took off her two day old pants and corset. She put on the new outfit with a strange compliance. She came out wearing a top which covered only her chest and had no sleeves, but belt-like brown leather straps. Her skirt was longer in the back and shorter in the front, it went from her waist to her knees at the shortest part. It was loosely mermaid style and every part of the outfit was skin tight. There were no shoes and the whole ensemble was orange with the underside of the skirt being white.

Levy was about to step out of the tub, when she realized something: shouldn't she be trying to get away? Instead of her original option, she quietly peeked from behind the curtain to see if Gajeel was looking. He wasn't- so she quietly got out of the tub and ran across the room behind him. Levy got to the door, then tried to throw it open- only to find it locked. Gajeel heard her tugging at the doorknob and turned around to get her. He grabbed Levy and hoisted her over his shoulder while she thrashed. She hated the feel of his hands against her bare midriff. When he got to the constraint chair, he threw her down on it, immediately going to strap her left arm.

_If I could only get to a weapon, maybe I could make him let me out_. So, naturally, Levy kicked. She made contact and ended up kicking Gajeel in the balls. He let out a sound of pain and Levy leapt up. She took a step to run away, but Gajeel grabbed her around the waist and threw her back in the chair. Quickly and unabashedly thinking, Gajeel sat on Levy to keep her still. He pinned her arms down and strapped her to the chair. Then, he got up and strapped her legs in but Levy continued to struggle. She even tried to unstrap herself with her teeth. This outburst only annoyed Gajeel.

"You know, they told me not to break anything that might keep you from working. That doesn't include ribs, Shrimp." If you hadn't realized already, Levy wasn't about to give Gajeel the satisfaction of hearing her scream or cry. So she barely yelped and just gritted her teeth when he slammed his iron knuckled fist into her bare-skinned abdomen. Levy jerked forward as a reaction and as Gajeel pulled his fist away, she sat back upright and flipped her hair out of her face.

"What's with the clothes? Is this some kind of fetish, _pervert_?" Levy spat out. Gajeel was looking angrier and angrier. "Just a mind game. See," Gajeel walked back towards his tools as he talked, "It freaks someone out even more when they see their own blood seeping through their clothes. And when the clothes get torn- it freaks the girls out and their eyes get all big and filled with fear. You never know what I'll do." To emphasize his point, he cut one of the straps of Levy's small top. It hung down and pulled the top down to reveal a bit more of her small chest than she was comfortable with, which made her squirm. Gajeel placed the knife on Levy's lap, like she was a shelf. He went to the fireplace and pulled out a red hot branding iron.

Levy began to panic, "What is that? What are you doing?" Levy began thrashing again, even trying to back the seat up until she realized it was bolted into the floor.

"Still trying to hold back the tears? Don't want me to have the satisfaction?" He grinned, mocking her, "That's okay. It'll be more entertaining when I finally break you of that habit. I have the time to do it now." From behind her, he pushed Levy's head down, doubling her over. He thrust the iron into Levy's left shoulder blade. she clenched her jaw and fists in pain and let out a strangled groan.

**_So, I don't know if y'all like this or not. Please review :)_**


	3. Hatred and Kindness

Hatred and Kindness

Levy was brought out of the room, hours later, battered and bruised. From utter exhaustion and pain, she was barely able to walk, so Levy shuffled in front of a prodding guard. He brought her down a long hallway and into the main room of Fairy Tail. There were so many people in there. Almost every person had soot on their face or was soaked up to their elbows. Levy could feel all the eyes in the room staring right at her. But she didn't care much. She felt hollow because of how she had been treated. And when the guards pushed her into the center of the room, like a sideshow to be seen, Levy fell and sprawled out onto the floor. Nobody moved to help her and the guards simply walked away, uncaring. They slammed the door to the chamber shut behind them. Levy tried to stand, pushing her torso up with her arms. But Levy couldn't hold the position and fell. But before Levy fell back to the floor, two hands caught her.

"Don't try to get up," the girl who caught Levy muttered. Levy looked up to see a girl about Levy's age with blond hair and concerned brown eyes. Just then, a shrill bell rang out signaling the end of the work day. A few people around them left, but most stayed, watching the scene unfold before them. Some scuffled a little closer, but she could tell nobody wanted to move of their own volition until that bell rang.

Levy felt a hand on her shoulder, but thinking it was a guard, she violently pulled away. She used the last of her energy doing so.

"It's okay. Let us help you," a boy behind the blonde girl said. He had short dark hair which stuck up in the back, obviously by accident.

"Yeah, let me help you go get cleaned up," another boy, the one with his hand on her shoulder, muttered from behind her. Levy simply nodded. The blond girl let go of Levy, and the boy behind her tried to help her stand. But Levy couldn't- she was so exhausted she wasn't even able to get her own feet on the ground. The boy who was behind her, a pink haired boy, almost dropped her. But the dark haired boy caught her, saying, "I'll help you." Levy was raised from the ground, but when the pink haired boy put her arm around his shoulders, Levy screamed. The burn on her shoulder blade made her unable to painlessly lift her left arm. When he raised it, she couldn't handle the searing pain on her back. He dropped her arm immediately.

"I'll just carry her," the dark haired boy said. If Levy didn't know better- which she didn't- she would have said the boy with pink hair pouted a bit. The boy with dark hair bent down and scooped Levy up gently. She winced as her body shifted in such a way, but this was far less painful then their original plan. The boy held Levy so her right arm was around his neck and he was holding her legs, but her left arm hung limply in front of them and her head was against his chest.

The blonde girl led the way to the washroom. On their way people stared at Levy. Some with pity- others with a look of intrigue. Once the trio left the center of the room and Levy was out of sight, people walked away. When they got to the washroom, Levy found out it was just a room filled with shower stalls, no toilets or sinks, which must have been in another room.

"Do you think you can stand on your own for a shower?" the blonde girl asked.

"Yeah," Levy breathed.

"I'll put you down now then," the boy warned and he did as he said, "I'll see you at dinner."

"Okay. Thanks, Gray," the blonde said. She didn't take her eyes off Levy, in case she fell again.

"Thank you," Levy replied without looking at him.

"There's soap already in the shower and I'll find you some clothes to change into," the blonde sounded rather perky for talking to someone bloodied and bruised. But Levy nodded, accepting what she said. Levy got in the shower stall closest to her and closed the curtain. She got undressed and turned on the water. During her shower Levy thought about her experience so far and it was not pleasant. Just as she expected.

When it was happening, she had mostly tuned out whatever Gajeel said and turned her mind to what the Queen had said earlier- and that other guard, too. _The guard said that Gajeel would only get one hundred jewel for me. Then why did the Queen say Totomaru was wrong? I guess that other guard was Totomaru, though_. This was about as much as Levy could infer while trying not to cry or scream. However, she wondered now why the Queen raised the bounty so much. _I'm not an important person and I was easy enough to catch_. Levy shrugged and attributed it to being paid for torturing her. Levy couldn't hear the other girl leave and come back over the sound of the shower. She didn't know if she was there with new clothes.

So, Levy called out, "Are you there?" And that was when Levy realized she didn't know the girl who'd helped her's name. She didn't know anyone's name here. Its not like she would have-it just wasn't something you would think of beforehand.

"Yeah, here you go," the girl reached into the shower to hand Levy some clothes, "All I could find was a pair of combat boots from Erza, some of my socks, overalls from Mira, and a shirt from Gray. Laundry day is tomorrow, so there aren't many clean clothes." Levy put Gray's shirt on. It was white with navy blue stripes. She buttoned it all the way up and realized it must have been a very old shirt. It was only a little big on her. Next, she pulled up Mira's overalls. They were gray shorts with buckled straps. There were also buttons on the front of the pants- two rows of three- and pockets in the back. Levy threw on long grey socks and laced up the black boots. Levy pulled back the curtain and the girl raised her eyebrows. One of Levy's overall straps was undone.

"I'm still bleeding pretty bad," Levy said awkwardly. Just as the words came out of her month, a little speck of blood came through the shirt.

The girl looked from the stain to Levy's face, "Let's get you to Wendy."

The girl helped Levy get to Wendy's room. They had made introductions on the way there. Levy was shy around new people and was afraid to give her name, so she was relieved when the girl introduced herself simply as "Lucy". Levy had become a bit more aware of her situation and surroundings. The shower seemed to wake her from the hollow state she was in. And talking a bit with Lucy made it a bit easier.

They had just gotten to Wendy's room a moment ago, but Wendy was already treating her. She had to lift her shirt to show Wendy what was making her bleed. There was a gash in her side which Wendy had to stitch up.

"It's a good thing this wasn't any deeper, or you would have been in trouble, Levy," Wendy told her. Wendy was only twelve, but she had done training under an amazing doctor for years. When Wendy finished stitching Levy's side, she bandaged her up. She wrapped gauze around her midsection and over her shoulder. As she did this, she found something else.

"Hey, whoa- you're bleeding through the shirt again," Wendy said. It was Levy's right arm, between her shoulder and elbow. Levy pushed the sleeve of the shirt up.

"You'll only need a few stitches here," Wendy proclaimed. After that, Wendy went to checking Levy's other wounds, making sure no stone went unturned. She found the burn on Levy's back and started digging through her bag and muttering, "I know it's here somewhere." Finally, Wendy pulled out a salve. Recognizing it, Lucy stepped towards Levy.

"Hold my hand. This stuff stings a lot and you can squeeze my hand if you need to," Lucy offered. She smiled down at Levy who was sitting on Wendy's bed. She was being so kind, they both were. Levy nodded and took Lucy's hand.

"Ready?" Wendy asked. Levy agreed. She felt a searing pain on her back, almost like she was being burned again, as Wendy rubbed the salve on with her finger. Levy squeezed Lucy's hand and screamed. Wendy repeatedly apologized, saying it needed to be done. Levy felt the calluses from work on Lucy's hand as she squeezed. Wendy finished with the salve and taped gauze over it. It still stung, but Levy let go of Lucy's hand. Levy pulled the sleeve back down and tucked her shirt back in, recovering a little.

"Thanks, Wendy!" Lucy wasn't looking at her, but eyeing the door as she pulled it open. Levy thanked her as well, a bit more heartfelt than Lucy, then they were off. Wendy waved at them and turned back to something- it was a dinner tray. Levy just barely saw her take a bite of her meal before she was out of sight. She seemed to be eating alone in her room. _But why?_

"-meet them at dinner!" Levy heard Lucy say.

"Huh?"

"We're going to dinner!"

"I already ate today," Levy gently turned Lucy down. It wasn't that she didn't like Lucy, she just didn't want to do this. She just couldn't do this. She'd been so out of it since yesterday, if she met anyone new she'd make a fool of herself. Or, she would just sit there quietly and barely soak in what was happening around her. Either way, Levy feared she would end up with no friends.

"Okay. Plus, you don't have any food tokens, so you couldn't get a meal anyways," Lucy realized this may have been insulting and amended it, "But I would have shared with you. I'm sure we all would have. Anyway, I'll just show you an open room." Lucy walk two more doors down the hall then opened a door to a room with grey walls, a bed with grey sheets, and a grey bureau. The room was big enough for the bed, the bureau, and Levy and Lucy to stand in an open space. There wasn't room for too much else.

"It's not much, but it's the only room left that you don't have to share. I have to share with Erza Scarlet," Lucy sounded only mildly disgruntled at this, "She doesn't let me have any fun. But, I'll see you later! I don't want to miss dinner! And you'll get your tokens delivered tomorrow and you'll probably get clothes soon, too. But you can borrow those for now!" Lucy waved as she walked out the door. Levy shut it behind her. She sighed and laid down on her bed. She started to think about the last few days again. She avoided the last few hours, but still thought anyway. That was the type of girl Levy was.

She felt so exhausted but could not sleep. Instead, she muttered a prayer to "whatever deity was out there" that her mother was safe and okay. Levy then tried to remember all the books she had. She would often list their titles to herself when she couldn't sleep. Tonight though, she had a different list she could recite. She recited their Greek alphabet titles the government gave them and the amount of each. She did this over and over again until she both memorized her favourite way to say them and fell asleep.

~(^.^)~

There was a sharp knocking on the door. Levy jumped out of bed and open the door to find a guard standing before her. He had hair that was the colour of grass and would have come down to his shoulders, if it wasn't sticking straight into the air. His bangs were slicked down, behind his ears. He wore a manacle and had strangely long, but thin eyebrows. The guard also had a mustache which stuck out in two tufts going in the opposite direction. His eyes were black and unfriendly.

"Levy McGarden?" he said and she nodded, "You'll need these for the next week." Levy saw his hand move and reveal a coin in his palm.

"So this is a meal token," she said as she took it. She wondered what Lucy had meant the night before.

His words became pinched, yet he tried to identify with her as well, "Yes. You'll get one meal a day, Queen's orders, so make it count. I will bring you clothes and more tokens tomorrow and leave them outside your door. For future reference, this is how we here at Fairy Tail do laundry: we will put out our dirty clothes in a sac and to the left of the door. The sac will be provided tomorrow. When our laundry is taken, our tokens will be given in smaller brown paper sacs for you to use over the next week. This is how we do laundry here, Ms. McGarden- we do not leave our clothes in a shower stall. Especially if another person has given them to us. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Clothes are cleaned and returned Tuesday morning in their original bags. Today, however, you will begin to work. Find someone to mentor you in any skill of the workshop which needs a new member. They will know to show you the ropes and they will guide you for one week until you will handle your job on your own. This is how Fairy Tail Workshop operates. Learn it, live it, love it- or else nobody involved will be happy with the outcome." The guard turned and swiftly walked away. He had just threatened her, but Levy paid no attention to that.

_Find my own job here? Where do I start?_

_**It would be much obliged if y'all could tell me how its going and review. Oh wow, that was Southern. I'M FROM NEW JERSEY! WHY DO I TALK THIS WAY?!**_


	4. Meet the Fairies

Meet The Fairies

"Sorry, girl. But no can do. We got enough people already." This was from the head of coal collection.

"Sorry, we're full. But maybe Erza can help." It was a no from the head of kitchen staff.

"I _am_ sorry, but there is simply no room on my team. We may be few, but we are strong and don't need any extra hands," Erza- team leader of turbine repairs- explained as respectfully as she could muster.

They were all answers to the same question- "Hi, I'm Levy. I'm new here. Do you have any job openings?" So, Levy figured she would try with Lucy. _I'll also get to talk to her with my head screwed on right- instead of all shaken up from being almost killed_. Levy asked around a bit, and she finally found someone who could help. It was the pink haired boy from yesterday who tried to help her up.

"You're looking for Luce? Er, Lucy? She's in the laundry room! It's down the ramp and two doors down on the right!" He said. Levy thanked him and he assured her it was no problem. She would have asked him if his department had any openings, but he worked with fire - and after the nasty burn on her back, Levy didn't want anything to do with flames. She got down to the laundry room and looked around the crowded hall to see Lucy in a far corner. Lucy looked up and waved her over.

"Hey, Levy. I'm glad you're feeling better from last night

She asked basically the same questions as she did the others, "Thanks, but do you know if there are any open jobs around here?"

Lucy shook her head, "I don't think so, sorry."

"It's okay. Thanks, Lucy," Levy was about to walk away, maybe find someplace else. But Lucy shot up and caught her uninjured arm.

"Wait! Will you come to dinner tonight? You can sit with me an meet my friends!"

"I would Lucy, but-"

"No buts! You're coming. If you promise, I'll tell you who has an opening for sure!"

"Fine, I'll go. But who has an opening?"

"Gray! He's been complaining about it for a while."

"Okay. I'll give it a shot!" Levy said with a smile. Famous last words.

~(^.^)~

"What the hell are you doing? Can you even stir right?" Gray agreed to let Levy try being part of his team, but Levy just kept making mistake after mistake. Apparently she put him in a bad mood already, since her blood stained his precious too small shirt she borrowed.

They both had their long sleeves rolled up and Levy's teeth were chattering. How could his entire team be okay with doing this day after day? The vats had water vapor pouring out of the top, they were so cold. Her arms had just been elbow deep in that stuff! And they were surrounded in tons of water in those same vats.

Gray was in charge of the part of the workshop that nearly freezes water. The coals are heated and water nearly frozen during the day, then the water is poured on the coals all night long. This water gets poured onto the hot coals to make steam, which rises and spins the turbines on the ceiling. It was basically like man-made geothermal energy.

And when Lucy told her about Gray's inability to find new workers, she was relieved. When Lucy said Gray was one of her close friends, Levy felt excited. But when Lucy said Gray was also caring and patient, Levy thought it was almost too good to be true. And it was. Now all she could feel, was embarrassment. This was not the Gray Lucy described. This Gray was callous and bad-tempered.

"_Yes,_ I know how to stir! You just never told me how fast or in which direction to go! You just have me a giant stick and said 'go'. I'm not telepathic you know!" Levy yelled.

"You're right! You're incompetent. You can't do anything right!" Gray yelled at Levy, snatching the stirring stick away from her, "I changed my mind! Water cooling supply is _not_ hiring!"

"What? But you promised me _and_ Lucy that you would mentor me!" Levy's first day with a cleared head was not going well.

"Yeah, but Lucy also promised _me_ you would take care of my shirt. And now there are stains on it and it has cooling chemicals all up the sleeves!"

"Your shirt has the same stains! More stains, even. You have cooling chemicals splashed all over you!"

"And that's _your_ fault! You backed into me and Lisanna, who accidentally splashed me! You're an incompetent menace and I won't let you work for me!"

"Fine!" Levy yelled, offended at his tone. _How dare he be so rude! And I didn't even do anything wrong. The whole Lisanna thing was an accident. Maybe if he had been paying attention-_

"Fine!" Gray yelled back. The bell rang to signal the end of the work day.

"Oh, just perfect. Now, after you've been fired, I have to work overtime to get up to quota. Because you fucked everything up, _I _have to clean up your mess. Just leave already, would ya?" Levy stormed off. She was caught in her daydream of pushing Gray into his own vat of chemicals and watching him get out to remember her promise to Lucy. She was walking back to her room, when a mess of dark blue hair blurred by in her peripherals. She stopped in her tracks, and slowly backed up.

To the little girl in the room she asked, "Hey, coming to dinner?" Levy was looking in on Wendy. Her head whipped up, she didn't know she was being watched.

"Uh, sh-sure," she stuttered. She jumped up and ran to the door. Then she looked back at her medicine bag.

"Just a second," Wendy ran back to into the room. She took a sharp tool out of her bag. She set her bag down and went to work on the door. Five minutes later, Wendy was done, and her door read "Door closed = in cafeteria. Not in cafeteria = in bathroom." Levy had to hand it to the girl, she was clever. She didn't have any paper or pens- they are all on lock down, especially in workshops because of the no writing law- so she just carved into the door! _That was genius!_ Levy had a whole new respect for Wendy, especially if she was intending to carry that heavy bag with her everywhere.

"Do you want me to carry your bag for you?" Levy put her hand out in offering.

"No, that's okay. Let's go!" Wendy said. She led Levy to the cafeteria where Lucy, Erza and the pink haired boy were already sitting. They were at a table in the center of the hall, surrounded by chatting workers.

"Levy!" Lucy saw the two bluenettes as they walked up, "and Wendy!"

"Hi guys!" Wendy said. By the way Lucy was surprised to see Wendy, Levy figured it wasn't often she sat with them at dinner. Or maybe even any meal.

"Levy, sit here!" Lucy excitedly patted the booth next to her. Erza scooted over so Wendy could sit down.

"Levy this is-" Lucy began, gesturing to her crimson haired cohort.

"Erza," Levy waved.

"We met earlier," Erza said, reaching her hand across the table to shake Levy's.

"Hey! I met you earlier, too!" the pink haired boy said, on the other side of Lucy.

"You two also met?" Lucy was confused, "How?"

Erza replied first, "She asked me for a job, and I respectfully declined."

"Yeah, and with me she was looking for you, Luce. I told her where you worked but-" he started to yell, "Hey! Why didn't you ask me for a job?"

"I don't really know you. I was mostly asking people I knew were department heads. I'm sorry,-... Uh..." Levy floundered for a name to apologize with. Then she realized she didn't know it. She scratched the back of her head.

"That's Natsu," Lucy saved her, content she could introduce at least one of her friends to Levy.

Surprisingly fast, Natsu recovered from his anger, "Nice ta meechya!" Natsu put his hand out in front of Lucy and steadied himself by putting his arm around the seat behind her, "And I'm not a department head- yet. Gildharts is my boss. He was my mentor, then he made me his assistant."

"I'm Levy," she shook Natsu's outstretched hand.

"Hey, when're we eating?" he asked next.

"Do you want to go now, Natsu?" Wendy asked.

"Well, if you insist."

"I agree. It's been a long day," Erza said. They all got up, but Levy stayed where she was.

"Come on, Levy, what are you waiting for?" Lucy said and the three others stopped and turned to look at her.

"I... can't," Levy blushed.

"Course ya can! You just give 'em a token and-" Levy cut Natsu off.

"I know how it works, I just don't have enough, okay? I already had breakfast this morning. I only get seven meals this week: one per day," Levy explained ashamedly.

"So you chose to have breakfast everyday. That's smart. But it's cruel to do such a thing to someone," Erza said.

"Yeah. It was the Queen's orders," Levy said, she couldn't meet their eyes. It was almost as humiliating as if this was the outside world and she didn't have enough jewels to buy a bagel.

"Well, the Queen be damned. You're eating. And we'll make sure it happens," Natsu got kind of dark. He seemed a lot more upset than he needed to be.

"Natsu!" Lucy tried to warn him. It wasn't good to curse on the Queen, even if no guards were around. But this _was _a workshop, so it must have been expected there.

"It's not a big deal, Luce. Anyway, you ain't gonna starve. We won't let it. We'll share our food with ya," Natsu said and Levy looked up. It may have seemed like an insignificant little thing, but when you only get two meals a day, plus working all the time, food ends up being a highly priced commodity. It was really kind of them to share their food with her. Especially when they had only just met.

"Now, come on. We need to get our food soon or all the good stuff'll be gone!" And just like that, he was smiling wide again. Well, not really, he was kind of bouncing up and down like a toddler who wanted a particular toy and couldn't wait to get into the toystore. But when Levy smiled at him, he smiled back. And Levy realized, _He's smiling at me. And its a genuine smile_. It was the first time she had felt someone was rooting for her since her father died. Not to mention, the first time in her life that person wasn't her dad. It gave her hope.

**_Not only do reviews help make me better, I get to see how people feel about this! And I love that, even if its not so positive._**


	5. The Lioness and The Albatross

The Lioness and The Albatross

"Guys, this is really too kind," Levy had napkins and bowls of food in front of her. From Lucy's soup meal she had all of Lucy's crackers. From Natsu's chicken meal she had half his mashed potatoes. From Era's seafood platter, she got three shrimp and a crabcake. And from Wendy's ravioli dinner, she got the entire Caesar salad.

"Nonsense, like Natsu said, we're friends. So, if it means we must, we'll share our food with you," Erza replied.

"Yeah, we're all friends now, Levy. Sometimes ya gotta let friends take care of ya," Natsu said, but his mouth was full, so Levy had no idea what he said. Lucy shook her head.

Thankfully, she translated, "He says, 'Sometimes you have to let friends take care of you.'"

"Yeah, and l feel bad. I mean, everyone gave you good stuff. l gave you a lousy salad and kept all my raviolis for myself," Wendy said. The young bluenette had been eating kind of slow and glum, just spreading her sauce around. Now they knew why: she felt guilty.

"Are you kidding? I'm so glad I got the salad! Do you know how many carbs are in raviolis? I'm trying to watch my figure," Levy joked. Thankfully everyone laughed- and it was obvious Wendy felt better. She tore into a ravioli she had been eyeing. The girl may practically a doctor, but she's still a kid at heart, and needed to be reassured like one.

"I'm still afraid a guard might come in and catch me eating, though. They said it was the Queen's orders. I don't want anymore punishment than necessary," Levy said.

"No, its okay. Guards rarely walk around," Wendy said.

"And they never come in the cafeteria," Natsu said. Levy exhaled a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. She let herself feel at ease, and ate in peace.

"Are you serious? You're feeding her off your own plates?" a familiar voice yelled as he stalked into the room. _I guess comfortable just isn't on the menu._

"Why shouldn't we Gray? She doesn't have enough tokens for two meals a day like the rest of us," Wendy said, defending her new friend. Thankfully, she tried to keep down the impending ruckus, having sensed Levy's hesitation about telling them before. Gray sat down at their booth. Levy was surprised, but nobody else seemed to be. _This must be a regular thing. Wooptie doo. _Who knew you could deadpan a thought...

"How do you know she isn't just hiding them to buy something?" Gray accused.

"Because she didn't know she could do that," Lucy said.

"Oh! Something else she doesn't know," as Gray yelled this, Levy looked down, "Why am I not surprised? This bafoon had me slam into Lisanna today, so she splashed me all over. And I have to buy a new shirt because she stained the one I lent her."

"I was bleeding," Levy said softly.

"Its no excuse," Gray seethed.

"Gray, I think its a pretty good excuse," Lucy tried to calm him down. But it just riled him up even more.

"Maybe so, but there is no excuse for the incompetency of what she did today. She couldn't even stir a vat of water right. She doesn't know anything!" Gray concluded. Through his entire rant, Levy just got angrier and angrier. She couldn't take it anymore. She stood straight up, planted her hands on the table and started gesticulating wildly. When she yelled at someone, she tended to do that. A lot.

"Let me just start my rebuttal to you, Gray: you are less significant to me than an albatross to a lioness. I _do _know things. I may be new and I may not be good at something you find extremely easy, but trust me when I say I am _not_ stupid. How can I prove this to you? Oh I know. Let's show what I know about our friends. Talking about them isn't rude because they're right here, yeah? Some easy things first. Lucy is a laundry worker and at some point since she has been here she got a burn on her body. Natsu works in the fire section of the workshop, and I mean really close to an actual fire. Also, he doesn't _seem _to like you a whole lot- we have something in common. Wendy is very good at what she does and is very resourceful and caring. Erza is basically top dog around here. Not a single person has disrespected her and gotten away with all their teeth. At the same time, though, she's a mother figure to you all- as in all of you at Fairy Tail. She cares for you all and she has as much respect for you as you do for her and you're all mutual friends. And as a conclusion to what I know is that you," she pointed, "Gray Fullbuster, are the albatross to my lioness." Levy could feel eyes staring her way to see what would happen next. That was what happened when you were too loud in an overly loud, crowded place. It becomes dinner and a show. Gray stood up as well and towered over Levy.

"Are you kidding me? That's it? You were just told all those things! Anyone can hear a fact and regurgitate it. Like this: you're Levy. You have blue hair," he put a piece of her hair between his fingers to emphasize his point, "But you can't look at a pole in a water vat and put two and two together to realize 'Oh, I _stir_ the water!'" His high pitched impression of her was enough to set Levy over the edge. She would have to apologize to her new friends later- she knew she was about to go too far, but didn't really care. She grabbed Gray's wrist, which was still near her face.

"That's what you think? Then let's take it around the table again!" She threw down Gray's hand and pointed to each person in turn, "Lucy has family issues. And Natsu has a nickname for her that she used to dislike, but then, she got used to it. Natsu may look like he doesn't like you, but in reality your relationship is complicated. If needed you two would defend each other in a fight, but you constantly bicker," some people grunted and groaned at the memories, "and under it all you two still respect each other. Natsu is also very friend oriented and will do anything to help his friends or defend them. But he also has a bit of a hero complex."

Levy stopped to make sure _everyone _was listening, "Wendy is young but very talented and dedicated to her job here," Levy looked around and yelled, "And you all take her for granted. Nobody has ever asked to be her apprentice, so maybe she can take a load off sometime, and just be a kid. That's really all she wants to do. That and help people. But she can't be a kid because you all depend on her so much. She sits in her room and eats dinner all by herself, all the time. That way, just in case there is an emergency, you'll be able to find her. But mostly because she's almost never asked if she wants to join you for dinner. And when she is asked, its certainly not by you, Gray." She turned her attention back to him. But she needed to get that info out for all to hear. It needed to be said and Levy seemed to be the only one to think so.

She continued, "Erza's real last name is Scarlet, right?" she shook her head, "Wrong. I'm sorry if this is revealing something too personal, but her last name was given to her because it is the colour of her hair. Also, she's been here a very long time. If not _here_ her whole life, then some other workshop before this. But she's definitely been working her whole life. Also, she hopes to one day join a military force, if she ever gets out of this Hell Hole. But you five aren't all I know about. Let's see how far my reach goes, yeah?" Gray smiled. _He probably thinks I have nothing else on him, _Levy thought.

Levy turned to one of the many women watching, she was across the room, "Mirajane. Can you confirm to Gray here that you've only said two sentences to me? I want to make sure he knows that for sure."

"Yeah. All I said was the kitchen wasn't hiring," Mirajane responded, "I didn't even tell her my name."

"But, I know that you're called both Mira and Mirajane and you love both names equally. Your sister is Lisanna and that man, pardon me, I don't know your name, is your brother," Levy said.

The man spoke up, "Name's Elfman." He sounded proud.

"Thank you Elfman - you certainly like your name as well, " Levy said.

"Very manly," Elfman grunted in agreement then smiled. Everyone was staring at her, so Levy ended up making it into more of a show than an argument. Why not?

"But let's go even bigger, Gray. This whole place- its under secret surveillance 24/7. All the rooms are. And something else: I'm the first newcomer in a while. I'd say somewhere between three to five weeks since the last one. And even longer since someone showed up as bloodied and bruised. But it still happened a lot in the past. And last, you, Gray, are a narcissistic arrogant brat... on the outside. You're actually kind and caring, to friends, at least. You're also a baby on the inside: sometimes you're still just a little boy in an adult's body and world. You're sad because you missed out on the fun you could've been having as a real kid in the real world. Instead you came here at a young age. You weren't as young as Erza was when she got here. But you weren't far behind either. And you consider Natsu a friend as well." Levy started to wrap it up and yell again. "So, now Gray, do you see why I resent that statement- that I don't know anything? I know my stuff. I know more than you think. So the next time you consider calling me out- especially on intelligence- think of this argument and how one sided it was. By the way _albatross_, I'm keeping the shirt." Levy finished and the room was silent. Lucy, Natsu and Erza recovered from their embarrassment. Erza looked mildly impressed, Wendy was still embarrassed, Lucy's mouth hung open and Natsu was still watching what was happening. Almost as if he was tallying the score.

But all at once, everyone started whooping and hollering. Some called out, "You go Levy!" or "Way to beat 'em, girl!" And others said things like "Can you tell my past, too?" or "Do me next!" Levy was astonished as she looked around her. She quickly smiled and felt that winning the argument was like initiation. It's like they say: if you go to jail - punch the biggest person you see straight in the face and you'll get respect.

Before she could bask in the glory, Levy was pulled away by a hand on her arm. She looked back at her table to find nobody sitting there. Then Gray stepped into her line of sight. Levy looked in front of her to find Lucy pulling her out of the room. Erza was a few steps ahead of them. Natsu had his arm around Wendy. He was talking to her to comfort her: to stop her blushing and calm her down as the six person brigade walked down the hallway.

**_Be a friend and review :) I love seeing people's reactions_**


	6. Induction, My Dear Watson

Induction, My Dear Watson

_I blew it. I just broke the only real friendships I ever had in less than an hour. That must be some kind of record for disengagement._ The party of six got to Levy's room and let themselves in. Lucy let go of Levy once they were all inside the room, and the door closed behind her. Levy plunked down on her bed and everyone made themselves comfortable in her room around her. Except Gray- he just stood at the door with his arms crossed, looking at the floor. Wendy parked herself next to Levy, on the bed. Natsu and Lucy sat cross legged on the floor together. And Erza stood leaning against the bureau. They sat in silence for a little while.

Levy couldn't take it anymore so she blurted, "I'm guessing you're all mad at me for revealing those things. I'm sorry. I just... get carried away when I get overly angry. And I get real quiet, then I yell a lot. I'm sorry if nobody knew some of those things or," Levy's eyes got really wide and started talking faster, "is none of it true? Oh my god! I just said all those things about you guys and none of it was true, was it?" She ran her fingers through her hair in disdain.

Wendy cut her off, "Calm down. It's okay. Everything you said was right."

"Yeah, we're not mad," Lucy certainly didn't sound it. She sounded like a mother does when calming her crying child.

"Speak for yourself," Gray replied.

"All she did was call you an albatross," Lucy rolled her eyes.

Getting back to Levy, Erza started, "We just want to know-"

Natsu burst: "How'd you do that?! Ya know- the psychic mind meld thing!" He sounded like a kid asking how the magician found his card, but he also sounded a bit intrigued.

"Well, I read books- that's why I'm here. I'll... get to that later, though. Um, anyway, my favourite book was a _Sherlock Holmes_ novel. Sherlock Holmes was a detective who solved murders by using self proclaimed 'deductive' reasoning. What he actually used was a process of inductive reasoning. It's basically when you take a bunch of facts about a person or scene and draw conclusions from it, to figure things out. When I read about it, I wanted to know how to do it. So my dad and I learned to together," Levy said.

"Okay, but I still don't see how you know all that about me," Lucy said, confused and unable to follow.

"'The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.' But do you want me to tell you specifically what it was?" Levy asked, everyone nodded so she continued, "Lucy, first then. I knew you had a burn because when Wendy took out her burn salve, you knew right away it would sting. Second, I visited you at work, I know you're a laundry assistant. Next, when you first introduced yourself to me you only said your first name. Everyone else told me their full name. I figured it was family problems if you didn't use your last name. Also Natsu used your nickname, Luce, to describe you earlier when we first met. Then, he quickly amended it to Lucy, as if he didn't know what to call you. Which he doesn't," Levy looked to Natsu, "It's okay though, Natsu. She likes the nickname."

"You could really tell that just from me and Natsu telling you my name?" Lucy said, "That's amazing!"

"Yeah, but what about me?" Natsu asked, "How'd ya know that stuff?"

"Yours was the easiest actually," Natsu blushed at Levy's response, "When I talked to you about Lucy, you had soot in your hair- that's why your hair sticks up like that. Also, as a side note, I know you are comfortable in your job because of the clothes you wear. Your outfit would make anyone sweat under normal circumstances, but you're happy to wear it. Also, based on the way you got so upset about my inability to get food, I realized how friend oriented and defensive of them you are. Then when we first met, you let Gray help you take me to get cleaned up, signaling you trusted and respected him. Then when you had to let just him take me, you pouted a little. I took this as you always feeling like you need to be a hero, but it could have been you just not liking Gray enough for him to take me alone. And that train of thought was reinforced to make me believe you two faught a lot tonight. When Gray stormed into the cafeteria and sat down, you flinched as if getting ready for a fight. And I'm sorry for saying the hero complex thing out loud. I was angry and going out on a limb was the best thing to do at the moment."

"It's okay, none of us are really all that mad," Wendy reassured Levy, "Like we said: it was all true. We're just so amazed about it we wanted to know how you did it. For me, I was just embarrassed but I wanted to know what I said that tipped you off."

"I'm sorry I embarrassed you Wendy, but I feel like it needed to be said. They weren't treating you right," Levy began her explanation, "First when Lucy took me to you, you weren't in the cafeteria like everyone else around us was. And when we left I saw you eating dinner in your room. Lucy didn't even turn back like I did and she didn't offer for you to go to dinner, but she was obviously your friend. Also when Lucy first suggested I come see you she never once had any doubt of where you were or if you'd help us."

"But what about knowing who'd asked me to join them before?" Wendy asked.

"Well, you were kind of afraid to leave your room, so I figured it was the first time you done so for an extended period of time. But I _knew_ it was the first time when you carved those words into your door. That was also when I realized how smart you were," Levy put her hand up, "That was genius." Wendy smiled and quickly high-fived her. Levy laughed.

"You had been so easy to persuade to join us for dinner, which also told me you didn't get asked to go to dinner often. And I knew Natsu had been the one to ask you if you wanted to join because you were so happy to see him. And saying Gray never asked you was just a dig on him," Levy concluded.

"Well you were right. Natsu asked me if I wanted to come to dinner with him when I first got here, but I started dodging the question after I had declined for so long. He eventually stopped asking. But that made me sadder then if he kept asking and I kept saying no. So I promised myself I would say yes the next time someone asked," Wendy blushed, "I had forgotten about that until you asked me. And you were the next person to ask if I wanted to go to dinner."

Levy couldn't take the girl's sad story any longer, "Oh, Wendy! You shouldn't have to feel like that again! Will you mentor me, so I can be there if you ever want to step out to eat with friends or anything?" Wendy blushed again and Levy could see the surprise in Wendy's eyes.

"But I'm so young! How will I-?" Wendy began.

Erza cut her off, "You may be young, but you are talented, Wendy. Grandina taught you well and you shall teach Levy splendidly. It would be in everyone's best interest if you agree. Levy may not be as good as you- but she will do well enough for the workshop." Levy looked at Wendy expectedly.

"Okay. I'll do it!" Wendy said. Levy hugged her and squealed.

"Now, let's get back on task. I believe its my turn. How do you know all about me, Levy?" Erza asked.

"Well, first off is your name. Scarlet isn't a popular name around in Fiore- it's like a Stephanopoulos saying he's Japanese. Plus, your hair colour matches your last name and that's also really unusual. So, I figured someone used your hair as inspiration for the name. Next was how long you'd been here. You have a lot of callouses on your hand. I felt them when I shook your hand, and I could tell you'd been working all your life up to this point. And you had been working hard, because your callouses are not only easy to feel, but easy to see. Also, there are the shoes you let me borrow. Almost nobody wears combat boots. Except military officers. So, you must want to be a part of the military to spend money on them. And it's not hard to tell that you are considered the boss around here. People get out of your way very easily, meanwhile I sometimes have to shove people away. Also, the way you carry yourself suggests you recognize this and don't abuse it. Which led me to think the mutual respect everyone has for you, is considered friendship. Though, the four people in this room are who you consider your close friends."

"Five," Erza corrected Levy, "there are six people in this room. Five excluding myself."

"But, Erza, I-" Levy began. She knew what she was trying to say, and was flattered, but they hardly knew each other.

"You know a lot about me. And I about you. I know you are strong, smart, caring, we get along well- not to mention you effectively put Gray in his place. I would be a fool to not consider you a close friend. I would also like to apologize for thinking you were weak before. You would have made a fine addition to my team. But you've found your calling already," Erza said. Another thing she noticed about Erza was that she closed her eyes when she complimented you. Not as if she thought she was too good to look at you- but as if she was picturing the trait she was complimenting. And Levy realized this was indeed a compliment saying that Erza had underestimated Levy. She had a feeling the great Erza didn't do that often.

"But I still don't get how you identified Mira like that," Lucy said.

"And how you knew about this place to talk about a security system or tell when the last person came in," Wendy asked.

"Well, Lucy told me that these pants were borrowed from Mira. And when I went to find a job, I looked in the cafeteria where Mirajane works. The girls around her were wearing the same type of pants and nobody else in the workshop wears these type of shorts. So, that narrowed Mirajane down to being one of the cafeteria workers. And the girl I talked to was the only one wearing grey shorts- everyone else had a different colour on. Also, I overheard some people talking about 'Mirajane' but Lucy had called her 'Mira'. I went out on a limb to say they were the same girl. Then, knowing what Mira looked like, I saw that her and Elfman and Lisanna had the same rare white hair. Plus- Mira and Lisanna have the same eyes, while Mirajane and Elfman have the same mouth, and Lisanna and Elfman have the same nose. And by the way people reacted when I got here, I could tell how long ago someone had been here. Some people walked away- so it couldn't have been a rare sighting. And the number of people that looked slightly amused were too high for there to have been another newbie only a few days ago. Also, there was a guard here that told me he knew I had left my clothes in the shower. And I knew nobody was in there with me except Lucy. And to add on to that, Wendy said that the guards don't come in here unless necessary. So, they must be watching us somehow. I guessed it was by camera. It seemed to be the most accessible option."

"So- is this why you're here? Because you taught yourself how to do this?" Natsu asked. He seemed to be a little slow on the uptake.

"Intelligence isn't a crime, Natsu," Erza corrected, "but I take you're here because you read that book?"

"Guys, it's not polite to ask that. Let her come out with it on her own," Lucy scolded.

"It's okay-" Levy addressed the group now, "Yeah. I'm here because of my father's book collection. We had twenty books total-"

"Twenty?"

"Oh my God!"

"I've never heard of that many..."

"Wow, Levy!"

"Well no wonder," Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Wendy and even Gray all said- respectively.

"No wonder what, Gray?" Natsu asked, getting ready for a fight.

"Calm down, pyro. I just mean no wonder she's so damn smart, not no wonder she's here," Gray said. Gray still hadn't moved from his place at the door. He only looked up from the floor to look at Natsu now.

Levy started her story again, "Anyway, I had twenty books-"

Lucy interrupted her again, she sounded a little suspicious, "What kinds of books?" Levy smiled as she was happy she memorized her favourite way to say the list before she fell asleep the previous night.

"Well, I had one each of beta, gamma, delta, lambda, sigma and omega," Natsu was counting them off on his fingers, "I had three alphas, five each of epsilon and iota. Oh! I had a Book Zed, too."

"I can't believe you had all those books!" Lucy said, "I'm so jealous!"

"I can't believe you're still alive,"Erza said, "There is something wrong about this situation."

"I know. Something weird happened at the trial. But I can't put my finger on what or why," Levy said.

"You're clever. I'm sure you'll figure it out. You've figured all of us out," Gray said, gesturing to the room. Levy nodded, hoping he was right.


	7. Morning Routine

Morning Routine

The next morning, there was a loud buzzer and Levy's eyes popped open. Just like everyone else at Fairy Tail, she sat up in her bed and stretched. Then she threw her legs over the side of the bed and hopped out. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she walked to her door. Levy threw it open and dragged her bag of cleaned clothes into the room. She absent mindedly set out her clothes on the bed as she remembered how amazing it was to have friends already. She didn't have many friends in her old life. She didn't have _any _friends in her old life, honestly. The few moments after Gray's compliment last night were awkward, but finally the gaggle agreed it was time they left Levy alone. They said their goodbyes- each of them promising to see her the next day. Natsu even made sure to tell her their food sharing offer still stands, which she figured, but it was nice to hear and not assume.

Levy's mind snapped forward to her clothes. She hadn't gotten any new shoes in the Santa bag. She did get all of Gajeel's clothes back, though. There were no more bloodstains- which was a miracle- but there were still a ton of cuts in it. And the skirt's bottom was falling off. She needed clothes desperately, which meant she _needed_ to fix these. _What about Lucy? I'll ask her to mend them. She works in the Laundry Dept. I think I saw some sewing machines in there_. Levy looked at the pants to skirts ratio and frowned. It was surprising that her given clothes consisted of so many pairs of pant. Then, she realized most girls here wore pants. It was more practical for workshop workers- plus it was probably viewed as more demeaning to wear the opposite gender's clothes.

Levy got a pair of "jeans"- they were pants made of denim that were worn in the days before the Queen's reign. She also had a pair of pants similar to Natsu's- but for women. They were black with white pinstripes. Levy also got a dress with a tan silk top and the bottom was brown with tan horizontal lines. The dress was sleeveless and would come just above Levy's knees. She also got a black sweetheart bodice and a cream coloured scoop neck top with lace at the ends of the loose sleeves.

Levy reached back into the bag to find more clothes- but there were none. She had enough to last two days. _Of course I could wear them over again. But if I can't get these tattered rags fixed, I don't know what I'll do._ Levy did, however, find a few accessories in the sac, which she wasn't expecting. She found a utility belt. It was leather and each pocket had decorative aged brass studs. It was kept together by two brass clips next to each other. Levy's favourite was a pocket that had a sky blue stone as the center to a brass stud flower design.

The stone matched her hair, as did the goggles she pulled out next. They were mostly black, but they were aged brass wires keeping the sky blue lenses in place. Levy pulled out a harness as well. She didn't know anyone who wore a harness- except street rats for a fashion choice. But that was nowhere near a bad thing. She slowly began to love whoever put together this streetrat-esque wardrobe for her. The harness was dark brown with to belts keeping it together. The belts had old brass fasteners, as did the straps. The straps were able to be tightened or loosened or even taken off. Last, she found dark brown, leather fingerless gloves. There were buckles on them for tightening.

Levy put the orange ensemble and dress in her bureau- in the top drawer. Her denim pants went in the second drawer with her accessories. The bottom drawer remained empty. She kept the bodice, silk shirt, and black pants out. She figured she might as well wear that today. Levy picked up her new outfit and went to find the showers.

~(^.^)~

Levy kicked the door closed behind her and walked to her bureau, humming all the way. She put Gray's shirt and Mira's shorts in the bottom drawer. She had gotten changed after her shower, putting on the black bodice over the silk shirt. The shirt was nearly skin tight, much too tight with out the bodice, but together the tops looked nice. The pants were a bit tight as well, but still comfortable. She still wore Erza's shoes over her pant legs. Levy got her harness out of her bureau and put it on- without the straps, after deciding it looked nice, not silly. It was hard to dress herself well when there was no mirror and the fashion was unknown to her. What would look nice? _I guess I can just wear whatever I want._ She smiled at the thought and put the goggles on around her neck- then thought better of it and used them as a hairband to hold her still wet hair back. Then Levy clipped her utility belt on and put her glove in the hammer hole and her tokens in the bejeweled pocket. She still had room for a bunch of other things in it- which she was excited to fill. The belt was a bit loose so it hung around her hips- but it felt right. Who knew the life of a criminal would fit her so well?

Levy smoothed her hands down her sides and decided she looked good enough to go to breakfast. If something was wrong with the outfit, she hoped Lucy or Erza would say something. Then she closed the drawer and headed out for breakfast. On the way there, Levy decided on some eggs and thinking time. She would get a plate of sunny side up eggs and toast and reflect on the events that had recently transpired. Especially her trial and what Erza had said the night before.

So, Levy got her meal and sat in a corner table with one other seat which she hoped would stay empty. But, two minutes in, her hopes were dashed as soon as Lucy sat down in that beautifully empty chair.

"Why aren't you sitting with us?" Lucy asked when she plopped down across from Levy with her tray. She had scrambled eggs on an English muffin.

"I was hoping to do some thinking," Levy replied.

"Oh, do you want me to go?"

"No," she gave in, "Its okay. Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Me too! I was thinking about how you had so many books... How did you have all those? You had, like, a fifth of the Magnolia Library before it was destroyed."

"Lucy- what are you talking about? There were thousands of books in that library!"

"No. There _may_ have been thousands in all of Fiore's stores and libraries, before they were taken out. But only larger towns a library. And cities had a hundred books and larger towns would have as little as twenty. Levy, how did you not know that?"

"Because its not true! Magnolia Library had thousands of books on its shelves. And people all over the city had home libraries of forty books sometimes. Books and knowledge were everywhere- free for the taking. Lucy, how could _you_ not know _that_?"

"Levy, I don't know what's going on here but-"

"Hey, Lucy, do you mind if I steal your seat for a second?" Gray asked. Lucy and Levy were both so confused with their very short conversation that they just stared at each other for a few seconds. But Lucy finally- and reluctantly- got up. Both parties wanted to pursue the conversation further, but didn't really know what else to say. SHe gathered her tray and walked to the booth they had sat in the previous night. Levy followed Lucy with her eyes, but when Gray sat in Lucy's seat, Levy lost her view of Lucy and looked at him instead.

"What?" Levy asked. It wasn't a cruel question, just a curious one. She had already forgotten the anger he had made her feel and was genuinely confused as to what was transpiring.

"Levy, I'm sorry about saying all that stuff about you," Levy shook her head as if to throw her confusion loose, Gray continued, "It was a bad day-" He stopped suddenly when Levy put her hand up. She realized where he was going.

"Gray- its okay. I said some pretty bad stuff, too."

"No, you only told the truth. We've been telling you that. It was just hard to hear is all." Gray slowly went back to his normal self- what Levy thought was a bit cocky, but he was actually not that bad of a guy.

"But can I ask ya now? What was my tell?" Gray asked with a grin. For some reason he unbuttoned his shirt a bit. _Is this the way he gets comfortable? Was he wearing his shirt like this yesterday?_

"Well, the shirt you gave me was almost my size. So, I figured you must have come here when you were little to have such a small shirt- since you can't really keep old clothes when you come here. And the stuff about you being a child inside was a total lie. I was just blowing smoke. And sorry about the whole 'albatross' thing," Levy revealed her secrets to Gray. She was someone who forgave very easily. She sometimes forgave all to readily, but she was a very good judge of character. At least, she thought so. She sensed Gray would be a good friend. So she decided to do all she could to let that happen.

"By the way- when do you want your shirt back? Erza's letting me keep her shoes until I get my own. And Mira says her shorts were getting faded and a bit small on her so I can keep them if I want them. And Lucy said socks don't really matter to her because she usually wears sandals. But I can give you your shirt back tonight at dinner if you want. It won't be-" Gray cut Levy off.

"You can keep it. Its not because I care about the stains- they'll be fine- but cause you seem to need it more than I do. Plus, like you said, it doesn't fit me anymore." While he talked, his hands went back to his shirt and unbuttoned more buttons. Levy didn't seem to notice.

"Okay, but- changing topics a little- what were you talking about when you said I might be saving my tokens?"

"Right. Well, you can save up tokens, instead of eating and you can hand them into the service department in exchange for clothes."

"Who runs that?" Levy looked at the people around them, trying to pull the information from their appearance somehow, but coming up short.

"Nobody here. Its the guards' thing. That's the only way it's fair. Or, as fair as a guard can be. Its in the office where the department leaders go to order new supplies. The theory is that if we eat less, we'll be complacent so we're rewarded. But have you seen a group of people more complacent than this bunch? We do our jobs with smiles on our faces and make friends in the process," Gray explained.

"Yeah, I've heard stories of these places being awful- but this place is much better than what I thought. Kind of unforgettable," Levy said with a smile. She looked down for a second took a sip of her cranberry juice. Mid-sip she looked through her glass and saw Gray. Levy nearly choked on her juice. She put her cup down sputtering and coughing. He just looked at her like she was crazy.

"Yeah... okay, I'm gonna go finish my breakfast," Gray got up to leave. He sounded weirded out. _He's weirded out?!_

"Gray!" she finished coughing.

"What?"

"Um, you may have lost your shirt?"

"Oh, crap! Sorry. Happens all the time," Gray was flustered and talking quickly, "I'll see you later, Levy." He collected his shirt and walked off. Levy laughed. Then she started to think again- but about clothes- not what she had originally intended. Leave it to a half-naked man to change her mind.

She looked around her and realized she was the only one who wore a different style of clothes. Different groups had their own distinct style. The clothes here were a mix of streetrat and retro (aka: before Queen fashion). It was like the clothes that were brought here were old, unwanted clothes that society didn't want. And looking around her, she realized two things. One: most styles were similar according to job. Two: Wendy didn't have a distinct style either. Maybe that was _their_ job's style.

She realized all the cafeteria workers like Mirajane and Kinana wore the same overall shorts but in a different colour for each girl with different shirts. They also wore tennis shoes that were the same colour as their shorts. Erza's turbine repair crew always wore black or dark colours- so the oil and grease wouldn't leave ugly stains. Erza usually wore a black silk shirt, grey vest and black leggings under a navy blue miniskirt. She also wore black leather boots and a toolbelt. Erza was the only one in her group to wear any colour other than black, but Levy hadn't seen her without her vest in three days. Her coworkers- Elfman, Macou and Wakaba- they all had on a black shirt under a black leather jacket. They all had two tool belts. The first hung over one shoulder which hung across their body- they usually took this one off for meals. The other was around their waist. They wore black long pants tucked into their leather boots. They wore grey lensed goggles similar to Levy's. The coal department wore basically the same stuff, but with a sixpence. Even the girls wore a similar hat. They wore their goggles on the rim of the sixpence, but the turbine workers wore their goggles around their neck.

Natsu wore a black coat over a black vest with a light tan shirt. He also wore a toolbelt around his waist and black pants with light tan pinstripes. He wore black rubber gloves while he was working and when he wasn't, he put the gloves in the hammer hole of the belt. That was where Levy got the idea from. And the rest of his department wore only black trousers with a light shirt. Some of the men wore their shirt unbuttoned, while the women wore black short shorts and white blouses. They dressed for the heat. For some reason, Natsu decided to dress nicely all the time. It only added to his weird charm.

Gray wore black jeans with a white button up. He also wore a white apron with pockets in it. He took it off after work and sometimes wore his white jacket to dinner. As the head of his department, most people dressed just like him. Except Lisanna- who always wore T-shirts and black jeans with her apron, and changed into shorts, like the fire girls', for dinner.

Lucy wore dresses like the rich do in the outside world- but with shorter skirts. Levy was almost positive Lucy redid the skirts herself. Lucy seemed to be one of the only people to not wear mostly black all the time and who seemed not to have multiples of one outfit. The laundry girls all dressed like that, but not as nicely as Lucy. Now that she thought about it, Wendy wore dresses similar to Lucy's. Again, Levy was sure Lucy made them. Wendy didn't have only dresses- which was where her fashion choices diverged from Lucy's. At that time, she was wearing brown boots with black pants and a pink shirt with a white strapped bodice. Her dark blue hair was in ponytails- as opposed to it being down like yesterday.

Levy also noticed all the tags in the cafeteria- a lot of dogtags for guys and many girls wore different kinds of bracelets with words on them. But, before Levy could ponder anything further, she heard the buzzer identifying the start of the workday. She was really excited to learn what Wendy did all day.


	8. The Doctor and The Seamstress

The Doctor and The Seamstress

Nothing. Wendy did nothing all day. The day started by Wendy telling Levy the supplies she needed were ordered. Then they sat and did _nothing_ for a _while_- Wendy was thinking about what she should teach Levy first. It was just that limbo time where the day hadn't really started, but they were talking about starting it.

Wendy decided to show her how to stitch a gash and because they had no patients, she cut an orange and sewed that back up. According to Wendy, it was easier than learning to do it on a live actual human being. Levy asked Wendy to remind her never to let Grandeeney teach her how to do an autopsy. Then, she let Levy try to sew up the orange. After about twenty minutes, Levy got the process down and continued to practice. That was an hour ago. And Levy hadn't seen a single person come in yet.

"Hey, Levy?" Wendy tried to get her counterpart's attention.

"Yeah?"

"How is your burn doing? You didn't come back for any pain relievers- so I figured it wasn't too bad," Wendy said.

"Yeah, it only hurts when you touch it. I can raise my arm, though!" Levy said with a smile. She raised her arm to show Wendy.

"Yay!" Wendy smiled back, "but do you mind if I see it? Just to make sure it's okay?"

"No problem. We don't really have anything better to do," Levy agreed. Wendy closed the door- but kept it from shutting all the way by using her shoe.

Levy took her bodice and her shirt off and Wendy got behind her on the bed. As Wendy looked, there was a sharp intake of breath. Levy began to panic and turn around. But Wendy yelled, "No!" and fixed Levy's shoulders so she was facing forward again.

"What? Wendy- what's wrong?" Levy was still panicked.

"It's fine! Just- The burn is forming a shape," Wendy squeaked.

"Is that bad?" Levy asked. She calm down a little, but Wendy's tone wasn't reassuring her all that much.

"No, just interesting..."

"What does it look like?"

"Kind of like a bird, but also a dragon at the same time," Wendy said. The bluenettes both calm down a bit after that. Wendy put more salve on the burn and bandaged it back up.

"Um. Levy- how did you get this?"

"Oh, um," Levy blushed, "It actually reminds me, uh. I won't be here tomorrow. As a part of my punishment. But I got the burn from th-" Levy was cut off by someone screaming down the hall. Saved by a screaming maniac- but saved all the same. Levy didn't really want to tell anyone about the second part of her punishment. The Gajeel problem was a bit too much for her to handle in the embarrassment department.

"Wendy! Wendy!" Levy barely had time to pull her shirt back on before Lucy ran into the room with arms full of detergent boxes. Levy let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't a guy that burst into the room when she didn't have her shirt on. She blushed at the thought and her head snapped back up when she heard her name.

"Levy! Um... You can help, too!" Lucy said with folded up cardboard in her arms. She was trying not to let them drop onto the floor. Wendy scrambled off the bed to close the door. She seemed to know what was going on.

"Levy, do you mind helping me push the bureau in front of the door?" Lucy asked as she threw the boxes down on the bed, beside Levy.

"Sure?" Levy didn't know what was happening, but she went with it. She might as well. If they were doing something wrong, how much more trouble could she really get in? Levy and Lucy pushed and pulled the bureau in front of the door.

"So, do you want to tell me what's going on?" Levy asked.

"Well, there are no locks on the door so we-" Lucy started.

"No, Lucy. Tell her why we have the cardboard," Wendy interrupted.

Lucy blushed, "I'm writing a book. And I use the cardboard to write on."

"Oh, Lucy! That's wonderful!" Levy squealed.

"Levy, please don't tell anyone! I could die for this," Lucy said.

"Lucy, I won't. I swear. Now, how do I help?" Levy asked.

"Every time Lucy is supposed to bring the detergent boxes to the heating department for fuel, she takes it here instead. I let her use my stuff to cut them into sheets, to make them more like paper. And Natsu covers her tracks, so if anyone ever asks, he makes sure to say Lucy gave them to him. And whenever Gray, Erza or I can, we steal pens for Lucy from Gladys- the old forgetful lady who works at the supplies desk. But she rarely takes a shift- its usually a younger worker who we can't fool," Wendy explained.

"Can you pass me a knife, Wendy?" Lucy asked. Wendy went to her bag and pulled out three scalpels. She handed one to Levy, one to Lucy and kept one for herself. Then, each of the girls took one of the six detergent boxes.

"Just cut the lid off- there's a giant hole in the top for a handle, so its basically useless," Lucy told Levy.

Wendy continued, "And we usually make piles of the same sized cardboard to sort them." Levy nodded in understanding.

"So, Lucy how long is it so far? The book I mean?" Levy wondered out loud.

"Well, I only had a few boxes before this- and we throw them away every two weeks. So its about twelve big pieces and twenty small pieces so far. By the way, do you have any other pens, Wendy? My last one ran out of ink," Lucy asked quietly. They were trying to make it seem like nobody was in the room in case anyone walked by.

"Well, I was going to save it for your birthday, but I do have another one for you," Wendy went to her bag. Lucy and Levy both leaned in to see the pen special enough to be used as a birthday gift, but Wendy just pulled out a water bottle. She took a sip.

"Wendy where is my pen?!" Lucy nearly yelled.

"I already gave it to Natsu. It was _his_ present to you," Wendy explained.

"Why him?! Why couldn't you give it to me?!" Lucy asked. She wasn't mad at anyone- she just really wanted a pen.

"Because he saw it and asked if he could give it to you. He just barely told me that it was for your birthday. He told me he was going to do something to it," Wendy said.

"Ooh, if that pyro breaks my pen I'll kill him!" Lucy said. They sat in silence until they all finished their first boxes. Lucy sat steaming about that pen she needed. They picked up their second boxes when Levy remembered something.

"Oh! Lucy, I was wondering if you'd help me with my ripped clothes. I know you hem yours and fix some of Wendy's clothes up, I was thinking that maybe you could fix my dress?"

"The brown one? But you just got it!"

"No, my orange one. The one I came here in. They gave it back to me after washing it and it was still all ripped up. I was wondering if you could make it look nicer? Maybe restyle it?" Levy asked.

"I'd love to Levy! I love making clothes!" Lucy squealed.

"Okay. And I'll show it to you after we're done here- if that's okay with Wendy." Levy looked at Wendy- her boss.

"Um- yeah! As long as I can come too!" Wendy said.

Lucy remembered something and said, "Oh, I was the one who picked out your clothes, by the way. Every time there's a newbie, someone in the laundry department gets them their clothes. They usually base it off what job they've been assigned, in order to get the most efficient clothes. I hope you like yours. You do like them right?"

"They're really cool. And not something I would usually wear. Perfect!" Levy replied.

"Good. Because I originally planned on giving them to you, thinking you were going to be working with Gray, but that blew up in my face. So I had to quickly switch out a shirt with the brown dress and I tried to switch the apron I had given you with a bag like Wendy's, but I couldn't find one on such short notice. So I went with the belt," Lucy noted.

"It was a good switch," Wendy put in, "My bag gets heavy sometimes- it's better to have it spread around your waist, I think." The girls began talking about accessories and Levy remembered something _else_ from that morning.

"So what's with all the tags around here?" she asked, speaking of accessories.

"Oh, you mean like this?" Lucy showed Levy her right hand. Lucy always wore a glove that was fixed around her middle finger but covered her hand up to her wrist where there was a black band. On the band in white letters was this:

Lucy

Seamstress

Bisca Mulan • Natsu Dragneel

"Its for identification. For if a guard needs to give you a probationary slip or something," Lucy explained.

"So, I understand the first two lines- your name and your job. But what is the third line?" Levy asked.

"Well, the first person is your boss, so I have Bisca. And the second person is like a next of kin, its who to tell first if you're hurt," Lucy replied.

"So you wrote Natsu, one of your close friends. Okay," Levy understood now, "What about you, Wendy?" Wendy held her arm out to show Levy her metal gold arm band. On Wendy's tag it said:

Wendy Marvell

Doctor

Natsu Dragneel • Lucy

"I was going to put 'medic' and Natsu made me write 'doctor' instead. But, mine is my name, my title and the two people who brought me to get my band, since I don't have a boss. They just so happened to be my two best friends," Wendy explained.

"That system is a really good idea," Levy was kind of surprised, "Wait, am I supposed to get one?"

"Ooh! Yeah, let's go after this!" Wendy said, "It's really fun to get them!"

"Wendy, you've only been to get yours," Lucy said.

"It was fun...," Wendy trailed off. The two older girls laughed.

"Okay," Lucy giggled, "Then we'll swing by Levy's place and get her clothes I need to fix."

"But what'll I put on my tag?" Levy asked as the three girls finished with the boxes.

"Your name, your job, Wendy's name- since she's your boss- and a friend's name. Or your family member's name. But not many people do that," Lucy stated as she got up from the floor. Levy thought about what she'd do as Wendy agreed to leave the cardboard there until Lucy could come back to get them. And they pushed the bureau back to its original place, so they could get out and walk about the workshop.


	9. Lots of Orange

Lots of Orange

"Its so pretty!" Levy gushed. She had eventually settled on a simple brown leather band with an old brass plate with

Levy McGarden

Medic

Wendy Marvell • Lucy

etched into it. Levy had decided to put Lucy as her first contact because Lucy was her best friend. When Levy said that, Lucy blushed, but smiled. Levy assured Wendy that her name would have been on it too, even if she wasn't her boss. They were her best friends. The girls were admiring the fast handiwork of the guard's metal press as they walked back to Levy's room.

"It was done so neatly!" Levy said.

"It is the same way each time, but it never gets old," Lucy added.

"And your band is so pretty!" Wendy acknowledged. After a while, the three girls got to Levy's room and she showed them her shirt and skirt by putting them out on the bed.

"Oh God," Lucy said, "The white parts are shreds and the top is basically a strip of fabric supported by a belt." Levy was afraid she'd say it was unfixable. She really needed these clothes. The ones she was wearing were comfy and all, but she needed to have more than two full outfits.

"Yeah, good luck, Lucy," Wendy said.

"I don't need luck, I've already got about three ideas for this fabric and the white strips are only fueling that fire," Lucy's face lit up and Levy was relieved. _Thank god she's so talented._

"Oh- thank you Lu!" Levy cried as she gave her a hug. Lucy was surprised at the outburst- but she didn't pull away from the hug. Lucy also didn't object to the new nickname. Levy pulled away from awkwardly hugging her.

"Do you care what it looks like when I'm done?" Lucy asked. Her cheeks still had a little blush in them from the surprise hug.

"Nope. Just make it okay again!" Levy replied, with a smile.

"Okay... I can do that," Lucy said while she gathered up the shreds of dress, "But if you ever want to come down and help, you know where am!" With that, Lucy was strolling out the door. She probably felt more like skipping. What could be better to someone who loves fashion than a blank canvas like those rags?

"Well, back to work," Levy said to Wendy. The two girls walked back to their base of operations: Wendy's room. Levy's shoulders were slumped because who wants another hour of work when all work is, is sewing up a fruit. Not to mention all the fruit juice all over Levy's hands. She felt like her hands would smell like citrus for a week.

Wendy had been silent on their way back until. _I wonder what's wrong, _were Levy's thoughts. They got back to their headquarters and found Levy's supplies had arrived. Wendy poured out her old supplies and the new supplies next to each other on the floor.

Levy walked in behind Wendy and saw her making more piles, there were so many boxes and bottles and cans and cartons and tubes and tools and tubs that Levy couldn't recognize anything. But when Wendy decided to speak again, it was all business- she knew whatever she didn't know about would be explained to her.

"So you see how I have so much alcohol and so many gauze pads?" Wendy said. And Levy saw it now. Wendy had two full bottles of alcohol and four plastic gauze pad boxes and one mostly empty bottle of alcohol.

"Yeah. Why do you have so much?" Levy asked- knowing it was the question Wendy wanted to answer.

"Because there are two different types of gauze you'll need. This is my dry gauze-" Wendy opened the container to show Levy, "And this is my alcohol gauze," Wendy showed her the other gauze. It was soaked in a clear liquid. Wendy sealed it back up and threw them in a pile. She also put a new alcohol bottle in the same pile.

"So, how I do it, is I pour rubbing alcohol in with the gauze pads. It makes it so if I need to rub alcohol on a tool to clean it or for whatever reason, I have these. They have actual products for this, but I like doing it myself because it tends to waste time," Wendy explained. She handed the tub and bottle to Levy, then gestured for Levy to do it. Maybe Wendy wasn't oblivious to the downsides of the job.

"All of it?" Levy asked. Wendy nodded. So, while Levy poured the alcohol, Wendy sorted and they both sat there thinking. Levy finished with the gauze, and Wendy took it and put it in a pile. Then she threw the empty bottle into a drawer of her bureau.

"So, this pile is yours," Wendy pointed to the pile she just threw the alcohol gauze into, "And this is the stuff I'm going to keep." Wendy began putting that stuff into her bag.

As Levy started putting stuff into her belt, she recognized pretty much everything now that she looked at one at a time. Thankfully they were mostly sample sized, so she could fit a lot into her belt. Levy found all the names on their labels and tried to remember it all:

-acetaminophen

-bandages

-ace bandages

-medical tape

-gauze (both alcohol and not)

-baby oil

-eye drops

-rubbing alcohol

-cortisone cream

-migraine relief

-upset stomach reliever

-scalpel

-ibuprofen

-lozenges

-tweezers

-a cloth rag

-some empty containers.

Levy couldn't fit the alcohol, the gauze and some other tools in her belt. But she could fit some empty containers in there, and she had an idea.

"What are the empty containers for?" Levy asked.

"Whatever you need them for. Sometimes for water, sometimes for splinters once you've got them out," Wendy replied. She was stitching the orange again. So, Levy put some alcohol in one tube, some dry gauze in another and some alcohol gauze in a third. In the third tube, she made sure to have a small pool of alcohol at the bottom to keep that gauze wet. Once they were placed in the belt, Levy felt like she was ready for anything.

"You can leave the rest of the stuff you need in here," Wendy said, gesturing to an open drawer on her night table. Wendy's bag was sitting on top of it. So, Levy did just that and as she had her back to Wendy, she started to hear giggling.

When Levy turned around Wendy said, "Its like you have a tail!" between giggles. Levy had tucked the cloth in the waistband of her pants, like the cafeteria girls often do. It was so childish that Levy laughed as well, remembering that Wendy _was _a child. It was easy to forget when she was giving you medical advice or explaining the difference between acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

For the next few hours, all Levy and Wendy did was talk. About everything. Wendy told Levy about Grandeeney, her mentor and mom, and Levy told Wendy about her books. Levy hoped Wendy thought this was better sitting in silence like she usually did. Wendy was smiling and laughing so Levy went with a yes at the moment.

"Wendy?" someone asked from in the doorjamb. It was one of the coal boys. He had orange hair, fair skin and dark eyes. Levy didn't know him, but she'd seen him around. Behind him was another coal boy with black hair, tanned skin and dark eyes.

"Ugh. Hi," the orange haired boy said, staring at Levy. She blushed. And the black haired boy looked in front of him, at Levy, and he smiled and blushed as well. He was holding his arm.

"Jet- what's wrong?" Wendy asked.

The orange haired boy snapped out of it and said, "Oh. Droy's shoulder- we think its dislocated. Can you fix it?"

"Sure," Wendy said, "Come sit down, Droy." The black haired boy complied._ So that must be Droy, _Levy thought, _That makes him-_

"I'm Jet," he introduced himself and Levy shook his hand.

"I'm Droy!" he yelled from the bed.

"This may hurt," Wendy said. Then, she pushed Droy's arm back into place. Droy yelled- but blushed immediately after.

"So what's your name?" Jet asked.

"Levy. I'm still new. Its nice to meet you," she replied.

"Are you helping Wendy?" Droy asked.

"No, does she look like she needs help?" Levy took the comment as a bit insulting and Wendy blushed at her defensiveness, "She's mentoring me." Droy got off the bed and was right next to Levy, just like Jet was.

"And you're coal workers. I guess Cana is your boss?" Levy asked. She was getting nervous. There was no need for them to be so close to her.

"Yep," Jet agreed.

"Um, do you guys need anything else?" Wendy asked. Her tone was clear: she was a bit uncomfortable. _You're not the only one, _Levy thought.

"Actually, can I have a pain killer?" Droy asked, not taking his eyes off Levy.

"I'll get it," Wendy said. She tried to get up from the bed, but her foot got stuck in the sheets. Wendy ended up falling flat on her face, right next to Jet's feet. And he didn't even move, so Levy did. She pushed her way out of the coal boy cage she was in.

"Wendy! Are you alright?" Levy helped her up. Then she went right to the ibuprofen in her belt and gave Droy two pills.

"Here are your pain relievers. And now if that's all, please go," Levy pointed at the door.

"But Levy-" Jet started.

"No, you didn't even try to help Wendy up and you didn't even thank her or so much as look at her this whole time! This is exactly what I was saying the other night and nobody cares!" Levy yelled. Then, something unexpected happened. Something unexpected and weird. The boys fell to their knees. Levy's eyes widened and her jaw fell at the abrupt change in their attitudes.

"We're sorry Levy! Please forgive us!" Jet said.

"Yes! And thank you Wendy! Thank you so much!" Droy said.

"Please forgive us!" they both said.

"And if you want us to, we'll go now," Jet said.

"We just don't want you to be mad at us, Levy. Or you, Wendy," Droy said. With that, they filed out the door.

"That was weird," Levy said.

"I think they like you!" Wendy said as she giggled.

"No!" Levy blushed, "They do not! They just met me!"

"In the few days you've been here, you've made a name for yourself. They probably know more about you than you think. And they liiiike it!" Wendy and Levy both laughed at this. Wendy laughed at her comment, but Levy laughing at the absurdity of someone actually liking _her_.

"God- I'm hoping you're not right," Levy said.

"_And_ I have a feeling we'll be seeing them again soon," Wendy added with a triumphant smile. Levy just sighed in antipathy. Hopefully they wouldn't act so strange if they came back.


	10. Heavyweight's Round Two

Heavyweight's Round Two

When the two bluenettes started getting ready to go to dinner, Levy said she might be a little late. She was putting her tokens back in her room because she didn't have any room left in her belt for them. But as Levy started walking she decided to just keep them in her pocket, so she went to dinner while Wendy was still in her room. She sat down next to Lucy in their usual booth. Natsu was sitting on the other side of Lucy. Erza was across from her, and Gray from Levy. Nobody had gotten their food yet- they were waiting for Wendy with casual chit-chat. But that was soon interrupted by the arrival of their youngest component.

"Lucy!" Wendy yelled as she ran into the cafeteria, "Uh, Levy." She sounded surprised to see her, which would make sense. She thought Levy would be late.

Wendy sputtered, "Um, uh... Natsu! So, I'm sorry. But, uh- I told Lucy about her present by accident." Levy knew that wasn't what she wanted to say, but Wendy sat down anyway.

"Weeendyyy. That was a surprise!" Natsu complained.

"But I need a new one!" Lucy whined.

"Fine," Natsu slouched and Levy leaned forward to see the pen. It had to be nice if it could be a good enough pen to be a birthday present.

"It used to be a plain brown E.U.C.E. Industries pen," Natsu said. E.U.C.E. Industries was the company that supplied the coals for Fairy Tail. E.U.C.E. stood for Electric Utilities Creation Equipment. Natsu pulled the pen out and everyone else leaned forward to see why it would do for a birthday present. When Levy saw it she almost gasped. It was a brown twist pen with icy blue swirls drawn over the top, around the metallic clip. In white it said LUCE- Natsu's nickname for her. He had scraped off part of the "E" to make it personalized. On the top of the pen, it was flat, so Natsu put an "L" there in blue.

When Lucy had taken it all in she cried, "Oh, Natsu!" And buried him in a hug. He hesitantly hugged her back.

"It's beautiful!" Lucy said as she pulled away and Natsu smiled a large toothy smile. He handed her the pen and she stared at it.

"I'm glad ya like it, Luce," he said, "Now who's ready to eat?" Without waiting for an answer, Natsu got up and started walking over toward the cafeteria's food line. He didn't get far before Lucy started yelling at him.

"Natsu! Can't you just let a nice moment like that happen? What's wrong with you? I can't believe you just walked away from me like that!" Lucy yelled. She was starting to get some attention, but just continued to yell. Natsu stood there like a scolded puppy.

"Come on, let's break this up before she screams about the pen," Gray said to Erza with a smirk. He walked over to a _still_ screaming Lucy.

Gray pushed her to the line saying, "Come on, Lucy. Let's get dinner."

"I did let the moment happen. I hugged her!" Natsu said to Wendy, who followed Gray, "I was just hungry." He slumped over and walked to the line with Wendy.

"I know," she said as she patted him on the back. Erza was just behind them- shaking her head and smiling a bit.

They came back a few minutes later and fixed Levy up with some food. Even Gray gave her some strawberries. Levy was starting to feel at home here. Like it would be unforgettable in a different sense than she originally thought, and not for the first time. Even though it had only been three days, there was a lot to this place that she liked almost better than in the real world. Just as she was laughing, Levy felt something against her elbow and jumped. All talking at the table stopped.

"Hi, Levy," Jet said, right next to her.

"Levy, why don't you have your own food?" Droy asked, who was slightly closer to Gray. Droy sounded more confused than concerned. The complete opposite of how her friends had been that first dinner she had with them.

Jet and Droy pushed chairs up to Levy's table and sat with their chairs backwards. Jet was as close as he could be to Levy and Droy was leaning in as close as he could with Jet between them. Jet set his tray down on the table and Droy pushed his onto the table, crashing it into Gray's tray. Some of Gray's fruit salad was thrown out of the bowl and a grape rolled onto the table. Some cantaloupe and watermelon plopped on the table as well.

Levy studied Gray's reaction as she said, "I don't have enough tokens for dinner and breakfast." Gray was staring at the watermelon and she could tell he was clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth in anger. He let it out and squashed the grape under his fist.

"Hey," he tried to get Droy's attention, "I was gonna eat that!" _Oh no. I hope Jet and Droy can handle Gray's temper._

"Sorry," Droy said quickly. He looked at Gray for a split second, then looked back at Levy.

"Hey, Levy, wanna come sit with us instead?" Jet asked.

"Um. I'm kind of already comfortable here," Levy apologized, not really taking her eyes off Gray. Just to make sure he doesn't try to pummel them. The only thing that saved Levy from that earlier was that she was a girl.

"Then we'll sit here with you," Droy said. he turned his chair around to get comfortable. Levy looked at her friends, and nobody looked happy about these new tablemates. Then, Jet accidentally kicked a leg of the table and jostled Gray's precariously sat tray- thanks to Droy's nudge earlier. The tray flipped off the table and fell into Gray's lap. Juice, fruit, grilled cheese and tomato soup smeared all over Gray and Levy's hands flew to her face. She covered her mouth in shock. Gray stood up as it happened making his tray, plate, bowls and glass clattered to the floor. Everyone at the table's mouths hung open in shock. Some people from surrounding tables also looked over.

But those two were suppressing laughter. Jet and Droy could barely contain themselves and that set Gray off- as if the stains on his shirt weren't bad enough.

"You think this is funny?" he yelled. And for the second time tonight, Levy and her friends got the attention of the people all around them. Gray pulled Droy to his feet,, lifting him by his shirt. Levy got up as Gray was about to hit Droy, not even a second later. Levy grabbed his punching arm to stop him.

"Levy..." Lucy warned. She placed her hand on Levy's hip. It was the same kind of touch she was giving Gray. It said: _please, just sit down._

"No," she responded, not taking her eyes off Gray, "Gray, stop." There was a pause and it was like the air itself was holding its breath. He grunted and threw Droy back in his seat so hard, the chair almost flipped backwards. He shook Levy off his arm and stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Levy, we didn't mean to, honestly," Droy said.

"Maybe not, but you've done enough," Levy said. With that, she ran out of the cafeteria to try and find Gray and calm him down. She found him a little ways down the hallway.

"Gray!" she kept running and tried to make him stop, "Will you just hold on a second?"

"What Levy?" Gray turned around and Levy almost ran into him.

"What are you doing? Just because you shouldn't hit them, doesn't mean you have to walk away and simmer in anger in the hallways."

"But if I stayed I would've hit them. And...," Gray sounded a little confused, "And you didn't want me to hit them. You were right. So I didn't and I had nothing else in there to do."

"No, you could've talked to them. Yell at them if you were angry. I did that on my second night here. And it was obvious nobody here was used to that. Maybe there should be less fist fights and more verbal fights. Less tension, less bruises, more friendship."

"Maybe you're right. Again. But its all we're used to."

"Then get un-used to it." _Good, Levy. Great articulation there._

"I guess. But, what about my dinner?"

"If they shared with me, they'll share with you," Levy said.

"Damnit, stop being right," Gray smiled at her, "But I'm still pissed at them. Don't think I'm not." He took his jacket off and put it over his arm with his hands in his pockets. He hesitated. Then he tapped Levy with his elbow.

"Let's go back," he conceded. Levy followed Gray back into the cafeteria with a smile on her face. When they sat back down in their booth, Levy noticed Jet and Droy were sitting across the room from the booth.

"Where's Tweedle D-bag and Tweedle Dumbass?" Gray asked.

"Natsu told them to go away. Then they said they'd wait for Levy to get back so he told them to 'Get the fuck out,'" Erza replied. Levy sunk in her seat as she nibbled on a strawberry.

"Wish I'd been there for that," Gray smirked. He took some of the fries Natsu gave Levy.

"I told you they liked you!" Wendy teased.

"Great way of showing it," Gray put in unnecessarily.

"Wendy, don't you dare," Levy warned from her slumped state.

"Wendy. _Please_ tell us that story!" Natsu said with a mischievous grin. Wendy giggled and told them. She added a few "We love you, Levy"s. The group had more than a few laughs at Levy's expense after that.

"You guys are the worst!" Levy squealed. But, she _was _laughing at Lucy's comment about what a three person wedding would look like.

"Don't even try that!" Gray said through tears and laughter, "You know you love our little group. You wouldn't have come after me just now if you didn't see us as at least a little bit of friends."

"And I'd still be in my room, by myself, feeling completely alone and thinking that was okay," Wendy agreed. It was all lighthearted, but the words meant more to Levy than they thought. Before she could make a fool of herself and say anything about that, Natsu launched into another funny story.

"Hey, Wendy, bet you'll never guess what Romeo did today!" Natsu already started laughing as he said this to his blushing bluenette buddy.

Later that night, after all the Jet and Droy and Romeo jokes were over and after their "little group" had dispersed they all went to bed. And Levy thought about those meaningful words Wendy and Gray had said. She thought about them until she fell asleep. And she fell asleep feeling more love than she had felt in years.

_**A. Note: So the fic isn't over, but I'm going to need a few weeks until I can put a new chapter up. I try to write the chapter on paper, then type it, then revise it twice before posting it. And I haven't really been having a lot of time to do that, but I'll try! So, you'll see me in a few weeks! Over and out!**_


	11. The Truth

_For anyone who has been waiting for this- I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a long time, especially longer than I expected. A lot of stuff happened: I went back to school, got a job, the play I'm directing was postponed (twice), I got inducted into a bunch of clubs, and I got friends and a boyfriend (shout out to sauce). So I've been rather busy. And you probably don't care. But I felt like I needed to explain myself. I would love if you'd review, it keeps me going!_  
>_<p>

The Truth

The next morning came and Levy was so nervous that she couldn't even eat breakfast. She was about to go to her second punishment session. _It's not as bad this way. I won't have to tell my friends about what is going on if I avoid them. I don't need to tell them about this mess until later. _As it stood, all of Levy's friends thought Levy had been beaten before she got arrested. She didn't correct them and they didn't ask for the truth or the exact details of her arrest. And she was relieved. Levy was somehow embarrassed about what was really happening. Is that crazy?

Just like on Monday, Levy was taken from her room at noon. She was taken to the same room as before and Gajeel was standing in the corner. Levy once again decided to try and restrain herself from showing emotion. She saw a new pair of clothes on the table.

"Get changed, don't get changed. I don't care. You'll be keeping the clothes either way," Gajeel said. His arms were crossed and his head was down so Levy couldn't see his face. But Levy also didn't move to change. She didn't want to change clothes with someone else in the room. Not him. Not again.

"I'll stay just the way I am, thanks," Levy replied. Gajeel pushed himself off the wall and tilted his head so Levy saw his grin.

"I'm just gonna talk to ya, Shrimp," Gajeel revealed, "How about we start with my orders. They've changed, ya know. I've been told I can break things now. I wonder why. Have you been starting some trouble, Ms. McGarden?" Gajeel made himself comfortable on the chair Levy was tied to last time. Even though Levy wasn't tied up, she felt more confined than ever, just under his watchful eye.

"Just keep that new order in mind if you try anything- like leaving- again," he said, "Take a load off, Levy. Relax. We'll be talking for a while." Again, Levy didn't move.

"I said sit your ass down!" Gajeel barked. Levy jumped and squeaked. She moved this time. She quickly hopped onto the table, next to her new clothes.

"Good," Gajeel began talking like they were sharing gossip, which was an odd fit for the bulky man, "Now how 'bout we talk about why you're here. Like the person that called me to your house. Who was that again? Oh, that's right- it was your mother. She begged and pleaded, saying I would have the best find of my life. Finally I agreed, and she told me _everything. _She told me who I should be getting- you. What I would be getting- all of the titles she knew of, plus a few more. And she told me exactly where you would be hiding. Your own mother completely sold you out. Without a bribe. She was just sick of you."

"You're lying," was all Levy could say.

"No. I'm not. Brown hair, brown eyes, small in every sense of the word?" Gajeel described Levy's mother perfectly, "But, you already knew I couldn't be lying, though. How could I have been called in?" He spread his arms almost in a shrug.

"But you already knew I wasn't lying because of some stupid shit like my breathing patterns. I've seen your conclusions. I know you know," Gajeel concluded. What made Levy shudder was that he had been watching her. But he was right. About the breathing part. He was breathing steadily. He wasn't sweating at all. He looked her in the eye, but didn't _stare _into her eyes either. And that made her not only angry, but sad. Her own mother turned her in. _Why?_

"And you know," he was talking like they were having casual conversation again, "When I went back to tell her what had become of you- she said 'good riddance. I didn't even want that bitch anyway. I should've beat her more. Then maybe she wouldn't be such a brat.' And she told me to give you one of these." Gajeel broke his promise to "only talk" today and slapped Levy across the face. Hard. She fell over onto the table and her head slammed onto the cool metal surface. She winced and pulled herself up a bit. But then her vision went fuzzy and she felt two large hands on her arms and heard a far away voice whisper a disgruntled curse.

Levy woke up later to an empty room. Gajeel finally meandered back in a little while later.

"Have a nice nap?" Gajeel asked, "I hope you didn't mind. I stepped out once you passed out." Levy had been thinking over what Gajeel had been saying for a while. She realized that since he was telling the truth- she should believe him or at least hear him out.

"Now, how about we talk about your new _fairy _friends. I heard that place was too easy on you. And I can't believe you'd think you had friends there. How many of these fairies were you friends with again?"

"Seven,' Levy said. It was really only five- but who cares if she counted Jet and Droy. She began sounding and feeling very small and helpless.

"Oh, right. I'll bet on this: they're the friends of the first person you met," Gajeel smirked.

"Maybe..."

"That's what I thought. That one person- they only feel sorry for you. That's why they introduced you to their friends. Those friends don't like you. They just want you to be as less of a pain in the ass as possible. How many of them have you helped anyway? You know- with the little blue haired one."

"Two."

"And how many of them have helped you?"

"Five."

"Exactly. You can't pull your weight. And what's this?" Gajeel ripped Levy's tag off her wrist.

He read it out loud, "Wendy Marvell and Lucy? What- no last name for _Lucy?_" Gajeel asked, "She hasn't even told you her last name and she's your closest friend? I'll bet she didn't even tell you who she really was. Or what she was in for." Gajeel threw Levy's tag on the floor. She couldn't think about anything except that she really didn't know Lucy's last name. Why didn't she? They had gotten really close. Not as close as Levy and Wendy had become- but still! _Doesn't Lucy trust me?_

"You know, I'm thinking percentages here. I'm willing to bet on the roles all your new 'friends' play in your life. Two of them just want to get in your pants. One pities you. You've barely talked to another one. One is so close to you, you can't tell how little they actually care. Another one just plain hates you. And the last person is friends with everybody and they couldn't care less if it was you or me sitting next to them at dinner every night. You gotta _think_, Shrimp. These people aren't your friends. They're criminals." As Levy realized Gajeel was right, her whole world- that she had come to know and love more than almost any time in her life- crashed down around her. And it took all she had not to let him see it. But she was dying inside.

_I can't believe I've been this stupid. They are criminals. How could I think they're my friends when I haven't had a single friend in my life? He knew how each of them has treated me and how each person I called a friend actually feels about me. Through the cameras all over the workshop, no doubt. How could I have been so stupid? I let my guard down in prison. That's the one place your guard should never fall. This is where sick, sadistic people are sent. Of course they're not nice. How could I think they were?_

When Gajeel was done talking, he simply walked out of the room. Two guards came back into the room and made Levy leave after she picked up her tag. They escorted her back to Fairy Tail proper. She finally let herself break down. It was better for it to be in their presence then Gajeel's. There truly was nobody she could turn to anymore. She didn't have any friends, her mother didn't love her, her father had been gone for years now, and the rest of the people here were guards or criminals. Levy cried and wiped away her tears and just as she got to her room, a guard shoved two clumps of orange cloth in her hands. Then they left.

Levy walked right to her door and when she opened it, she felt sick from all her sadness being boiled into hate and rage after she saw all the faces in her room. It was all of _them. _All except Jet and Droy. Thank God- if Levy saw their face the only other thing that could of happened is she would _explode_. Actually and truly explode. There was no way she could have handled seeing all seven faces of the people she hated most. Lucy and Wendy had the gall to sit on her bed. Natsu at least had the decency to sit on the floor like the dog he was. And Gray and Erza just stood there like a couple of fools. Levy was so infuriated she was shaking. She wasn't one to actually yell in anger. She only got quiet- a terrifying kind of quiet that immediately shut everyone in her room up.

"What the _fuck _do you think you think you're doing?" she spoke to everyone. Her lips quivered and a tear fell down her cheek. A hot, frustration tear which she immediately brushed away after she put her new clothes into one hand. She was angry at herself for falling for their ruse, yes. But she was sure as shit angrier at them. She was far enough beyond pissed that she actually cursed at them. Her father had always told her that if there was any other word she could use instead of cursing, she should use that word. But right now, there were just no words to describe her feelings.

"Levy? What's wrong?" Lucy asked. She sounded both concerned and startled at her sudden burst of animosity.

"Yeah," she chuckled, "like you care. You know, I don't need your pity! I never did. I don't need you to be some kind of friend matchmaker. Just because I'm new, don't give me help just because you pity me!" The idiots around her looked confused. Lucy was quiet, albeit surprised. She didn't respond, which made Levy think she was right- and so was Gajeel.

"Levy, please tell us what-" Wendy didn't get to finish before Levy pointed an angry finger at her.

"Shut up! I can't believe I stood up for you! You don't deserve it- you're just some stupid kid. I can't believe I wrote your name on this because I wanted to!" Levy held up her tag, which she still hadn't put back on, "And I can't believe _your_ name is on this! I don't even know it!" Levy had her attention back to Lucy. Wendy began to tear up because of Levy's yelling. She threw her tag at the wall between their heads. Wendy squeaked and began crying after being startled by that.

"Whoa, Levy. Please just calm down," Erza stepped a bit closer to diffuse the situation.

"Yeah, just listen to us for a second," Natsu tried. He stood up next to Erza.

"No! Why haven't you left yet? You barely know me!" Levy threw some of her new clothes at Erza, and the the rest at Natsu, "And you couldn't care any less if it was _me_ standing right here or Elfman!"

She turned to Gray, "And _you._ I want you out the most. You haven't stopped hating me this whole time! And you pretended to be my _friend?_ I. Cannot. _Fucking. _Believe you."

"What are you going to throw at me, Levy? Huh? There's nothing left in your hands," Gray said. At her sides, Levy clenched her fists. The nerve of this asshole.

_He's right, but they won't leave!_ So, Levy did what she could think to do. She punched Gray in the face. It hit him square on, but he didn't move. Her hand hurt, but she didn't stop. She backhanded him or, at least, she tried to. Gray grabbed her wrist and wouldn't let her move it. Levy reciprocated by pounding his chest with her free hand. He just palmed her fist. She thrashed to get out of his hold- but he wouldn't let her out. Then, Gray shook Levy to get some sense into her.

He yelled, "Stop it! Just give me five minutes to talk!"

"No!" she yelled. She wouldn't stop thrashing.

"Then why did you let _him _talk for hours?" Gray yelled, "And why did you listen? You're a smart girl, Levy; why did you let him get to you?"

"Because he was right- he was telling the truth!" Levy screamed.

"No he didn't! He plays mind games!" Gray roared, "Would someone who hated you try _this _hard to tell you they didn't? Would someone who wasn't comfortable around you eat your food right off your plate like I did last night? Erza may not be able to talk to you much, but she wishes she could! Lucy can't stop talking about the new dress she's making for you and how nice you'll look in it! Wendy adores you, and I swear she's starting to think of you as an older sister! And you're right about Natsu. He couldn't care less if this was about you or anyone else in the workshop, because he cares about each and everyone of us here like we were family. Especially the people in this room. And damn it, Levy, if you can't see how much each and every one of us cares for you, then you're out of your damn mind. You must not be as smart as I thought you were." Gray had yelled that entire time and took a pause to calm himself a bit.

He was quieter, "But even if that's true, we'll never walk out of that door before proving ourselves to you." Levy's spell broke and she didn't know what to say or do. She was overwhelmingly disappointed in herself. And astoundingly happy to have met these people. She accused them of such horrid things. And when she looked into their eyes she saw hurt, but she also saw concern and she knew they would forgive her. She didn't know when exactly, but Levy had begun to sob. She put her hand to her face and felt the tears. Then, she felt the emotion: relief. Relief for so many things. Levy pulled her hands away from Gray only to hug him and cry into his chest. He didn't really hug her back, just patted her on the back. She felt a hand on her shoulder and was being pulled away from Gray. Levy put her hands to her face and felt Lucy pull her into a real hug. The two girls hugged each other, until Lucy pulled Levy to sit on the bed.

Lucy whispered something to Levy, "Heartfilia."

"Wha-what?" Levy breathed in heavily and wiped at her eyes.

"That's my last name. I don't just pity you Levy- and that's proof. Now you know my full name and I trust you with it."

"You didn't have to tell me that," Levy said. She knew what the name meant, she knew where Lucy came from.

"I wanted to," Lucy replied. Levy pulled away from Lucy and sat down next to Wendy. She cuddled up to her a little bit and could hear Wendy trying to calm herself down.

"I'm sorry Wendy. What I said was wrong. It was wrong because it wasn't true and it wasn't nice. At all. I was in a rage. Its not a good enough excuse, but please forgive me," Levy said to Wendy.

"Its okay," Wendy sniffed. She reached over and took Levy's hand. Levy closed her eyes and put her head to Wendy's. Then her eyes shot open.

"Wait, Gray. You said he. Earlier when you asked me why I let _'him' _talk to me for hours. How did you know what was going on? And how did you know it was a him?"

"Wendy told us about your burn and not being able to be at work today, and well," Gray unbuttoned the top two buttons to his shirt. He pulled the collar down to show a burn scar which looked like what Wendy described Levy's burn to be like.

"We guessed from experience," Gray finished. His burn- more like mark- was on the right side of his chest. Erza pulled up her left sleeve and Natsu, his right. Erza's was just under her left shoulder and Natsu's was on his right shoulder. Lucy took off her glove, the one that was always on her right hand, and there was her mark. Wendy followed their lead and pulled up her right sleeve. Her scar was on her right shoulder.

"A lot of people in Fairy Tail have these. He did this to all of us. He tried to turn us against our friends," Natsu said.

"And a lot of us listened. When we listened- we hated our friends, and ourselves," Lucy said.

"And only Natsu, Erza and a few others ever denied what he said. It really is like a spell he puts you under with his mind tricks," Gray explained, "Erza snapped me out of it and Natsu helped Lucy and Wendy. But Wendy didn't fully break out of it until a few days ago when you showed up. That's why she was always in her room. She was too insecure and you helped her."

"Don't talk about her like she's not here," Levy said offhandedly.

"Sorry," was Gray's automatic response.

"Anyway, when Natsu tried to snap me out of it, I almost stabbed him. But we hugged it out. But that just shows your reaction wasn't the worst and it was kind of justified," Lucy smiled. She wasn't always the best at calming people down...

"But that's why he's on my tag. He was there for me when I really needed it," she concluded.

"And why Erza is on mine," Gray said.

"Anyway, Gajeel's a bad guy," Natsu chimed in, "He almost got me to cave in. But we need to show him up once and for all."

"And as soon as you can, we will need you to do it," Erza said, "It may be hard, but this is something we thought of together. And if you would agree that would-"

"I'll do it," Levy cut her off, "I know you hatched this plan with out me, but I'm needed. And I'll do it. We don't know who he'll take next or even when that'll be," A second went by, then a bubble popped in Levy's head- something wasn't right.

"Natsu, why _didn't _he break you? He doesn't seem like someone who would usually stop when he came so close to something he wanted." The room went quiet and nobody looked anyone else in the eye. This was obviously a touchy subject. And Levy was about to retract her question when-

"He was reassigned. It was in the middle of the session," Wendy, Erza and Gray looked at him, but Lucy just stared at the floor, "He was about to say something, but another guard came in and he smiled real wide. And he said, 'Sorry, but I got a nice blonde waiting for me in a great big house I gotta tend to.' The next day, Lucy showed up here with a black eye, split lip, two bruised ribs and a burned hand. Wendy wasn't there yet to fix 'er up, but we banded together and helped her as much as we could. She needed a job quick, and with her bruised ribs, she couldn't do too much, so Bisca gave her a job. And a little while later, Wendy moved in with choppy hair, a few stitches and a burned and bandaged shoulder. The mark was always the same. And I always regretted not fighting to make him stay. I regret feeling... relieved... when he was gone." The word "relieved" came out in a near whisper and she knew he was ashamed. But Levy also knew why he was telling her this. It was to make sure she followed through with her claim to break the man that broke all her friends. She had decided to help when Erza asked, but now she knew she wouldn't back down. Even if she didn't like it.

A few moments passed and nobody said anything, until Erza broke the silence, "But don't think we missed that blood in your hair."

"Or the new bruise," Wendy chirped.

"It was better than last week. He mostly talked," Levy said.

"Which isn't good. After he 'talks', he gets more violent. But usually he really does only talk. So why did he hit you?" Gray mused.

"He said it was from my mother. She asked him to," Levy replied.

"I guess," Gray's brow furrowed in wondering.

"But I hope you know we need to make this move to squash him soon. Because things do get worse," Erza sounded like she was preparing to lead an attack.

"I can handle this," Levy was determined.

"No, you can't. Nobody can for long," Erza said.

"He spreads salt in your wounds," Lucy said.

"I figured."

"And he uses electricity," Wendy supplied.

"I saw the cattle prod."

"So you understand the situation and why this needs to be done. Why we need to make sure he doesn't take another victim," Gray persisted.

"I get it."


End file.
